One of the interesting things about Touhou was ZUN himself. Well, by that I mean the development and establishment of the world. From Touhou 1 to 9, ZUN didn't take it seriously. He just created characters and scenarios, and music. In fact, 9 was supposed to be the last game, and he intended to leave it be. That is, until he realized how popular it was. Touhou 10 is indeed the catalyst, but not just for what goes on in Gensokyo. For the story. He finally started to craft a story, and establish true lore behind Gensokyo. He took it seriously, and this is about the time where all the lore books and manga started to pop up. You get more characters like Rinnosuke, the Fairies of Light, Kosuzu, among others, to all flesh out this world.

I just kind of find it fascinating. However, this also came with its problems. ZUN... retconned quite a few things. What ticked off the fandom was the retconning of some of the characters, one in particular. I'll leave it to you to find out who, not that I'm gonna mention it or anything. Let's just say that one of the more popular characters got "debuffed" in a sense.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is owned by Nagaru Tanigawa. Touhou Project is owned by ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice. I own neither. This is a fan fiction of those works.

Beta Reader (and partial writer) for this episode:

Smooglii

Meiling stared down at the blowhole, her thoughts on the group. Sakuya, please be safe. You can stop time for yourself, so I know you have a great chance of surviving should something go horribly wrong, but please take care. Come back to our lady. The guard shivered, feeling a bluster of chilled wind come over her, deciding that she should probably wait where it's warmer. Standing around freezing her butt off would do nobody any good - she'd have to make sure her body was ready to fight should the enchantments to break the seal that held her back come through.

In fact, they might be breaking Mystia's seal soon - Patch had found some old Roman tome that had a symbol pertaining to the seal that appeared when the night sparrow approached the blowhole. Kind of weird. No wonder people like Yukari or Kaguya haven't seen these. Most of them appear western, almost. Actually, the fairy one was also Roman, with some Greek influences. I wonder if they'll figure out why they are concerning those. That could make things easier, though I don't like the notion of having to say them. Meiling had fumbled over the enchantment a few times - the western languages had always given her slip-ups.

Meiling turned to the miner's shack, noticing that Whiterock was still at her position, and not minding the cold, of course. Why are you even here? Lady Patch said it'll only get hotter if you go down, and there is a warm air coming up from this hole in the first place. It's obviously hot down there. Then again, if something like Suou was the cause of the seals, then of course Whiterock would be there. The yuki-onna still has the scars from four years ago, and is still wearing her hair over them. She hasn't forgotten being used. If I were in her position, I'd want revenge too. Even if she wasn't being held out here, she still couldn't realistically go. All in all, the yuki-onna wasn't upset over not being able to go down. She just stared intently, as if expecting the target of her obsession to pop up. It certainly wasn't healthy behavior, but what else could Whiterock do?

The guard made her way to the building, where the bird was already cooking up a meal- the delicious smells of grilled meat wafted out, when all of a sudden she heard a greeting from above her.

"Heya!" It was the Prismriver sisters, Lunasa, Merlin, and Lyrica. They came down, exchanging hellos, and the bird came out after hearing the voices, exchanging hellos as well.

"So you guys are here for the incident?"

Lunasa nodded. "Yep! Lady Yuyuko has asked us to assist, so we're here to help out!"

"Kinda late, eh?"

Merlin shrugged. "We were busy preparing for another performance, and we just got the call from Lady Yukari to join up. Sorry we weren't there sooner." The phantom pointed to her trumpet. "We had to get our best instruments for this one."

Both Lunasa and Merlin went to the hole, leaving Lyrica, who was looking sullen, with Mystia and Meiling. Before the two sisters reached the hole, Meiling gave them a warning about a possible seal, before returning her attention to the phantom in red. "Hey, uh, Lyrica, was it?" The phantom looked up at Meiling. "What's the matter?"

"...Nothing."

"There's obviously something bothering you." Mystia moved closer. "C'mon. You can tell me."

"Nothing's wrong."

Mystia lightly frowned, a realization dawning on her face, before disappointment set in. "Don't tell me it's what the Yama said. Not that again."

Before Meiling could ask what, the other two sisters let out an exclamation - they were kept out due to a seal set to them. Great. So more people will be waiting.

I patted the fairies on the head. "I knew asking you girls to show up was a smart move. Thanks."

The three fairies of light responded with a "you're welcome", while Cirno puffed out her chest. "Of course it was! Getting me to back you up in the fight is the smartest thing you could do! Eye-"

"Am the strongest. I get it." I couldn't help but smile over them. "Seriously, it's good to see you four again."

"Yeah." Tenshi came up to my side, and crossed her arms, giving the fairies a look over. "When you four showed up at my fight, you drastically changed everything." The celestial grinned. "Even though you didn't last for five minutes."

Cirno's face scrunched up in anger, and she would have gone for the celestial if the other three didn't hold her back. "Wanna go for round three? Cause Eye can go!"

You didn't even go for round two... unless you fought her-

"We only fought once, fairy," said Tenshi with a confused look on her face. "Where'd you get three from?"

Oh okay, Cirno is just being her usual idiot self.

"Doesn't matter how many times you beat me! Eye'll still get up!"

I decided to leave the fairy comedy act, as Tenshi and Cirno continued to argue. Making my way back to the rest of the group, I noticed Reimu was still standing over Yamame. "So are you gonna kill her?" It is pretty obvious that Yamame has a kill count, and a horrific way of killing at that.

Reimu had been staring down at the knocked out and chained spider, and looked up with a slight start, as if she had forgotten I was even there. "Hmm?"

All of us still kept our distance away from the disease controlling spider, as we didn't want to be near her if she woke up. We still didn't understand how she could cause illness, so we didn't want to take any chances. Reimu was the only one who was close enough, and even then, she had backed away a few steps after placing that amulet on the youkai.

"That's right," said Youmu, still wearing her mask like everyone else. "She did kill off all those miners, and from the looks of things before we burned the place down, she claimed quite a few other humans."

Reimu looked down at the spider, mulling it over. "...They weren't part of the human village, and I can't prove who the others were."

"That excuses her?" I think you of all people would bring this youkai to your brand of justice. After seeing all the bodies in the spider's lair, nobody would blame you for exterminating such a creature.

She gave a non-committal shrug, and walked back to us. "It's kind of a technical thing. I mean, I'll help humans to shelter, but I can't always be there for every human who doesn't make it to the safety of the village. It's a grey area. I should kill her, but..."

"It's kinda an unspoken rule 'n all." Mokou nodded at what Reimu had said. "If you're part of the village, you're protected. If you're stupid or unlucky enough to be out on your own, you're kinda fair game."

"Exactly. It's my job to help humans of Gensokyo. For all I know, according to the journal, these are people from the outside world. Technically, okay? I'm just one person so I can't save everybody, you know? I'll try, but there's only so much one Hakurei can do."

Seriously? That's kind of harsh. Fitting for such a world, I suppose.

Chiyuri rubbed her chin below the mask. "Kind of makes sense. Can't always protect the ones going out into the wild. Same thing with our world, I suppose. There are numerous accounts where people just aren't prepared for what's out there in a world without youkai." The scientist paused, looking to the remainder of the corpses, as if trying to emphasize what she was saying. "Animals, elements, lack of preparation, or sheer bad luck gets you killed, and you're lucky if your body is found. In a world with youkai running around? That's..." Again she paused, referencing the bodies. "That's obviously different."

True. I mean, how many people go out and get killed by bears every year, or just disappear into the wilderness? Granted, some of those disappearances may be linked to Gensokyo, but still - you do have to be careful going out into the wild. No, Chiyuri is right. These miners were brought in by Gensokyo itself. If Yukari did it, she'd probably distribute them out to the cooking teams. It had to have been pure bad luck, and even worse luck to end up as spider food.

"It's a thing I constantly tell people when I see them outside of the protection of the human village, or when they try to live by themselves." Reimu pointed to the witch. "In fact, it's what I told Marisa when she started living by herself, that she better be able to protect herself, as no one else would."

Right. Marisa's first week on her own at the age of eleven, and she got clawed. She learned the hard way. Marisa was strong enough to take care of herself since, so she's an exception.

"And all this happened over two decades ago. Kinda pointless now about the miners, and she paid with the destruction of her lair 'n all."

This was one of the things I thought about when Seija took me into the future, that I was fair game to any youkai out there unless I was a part of the village or some faction, that as a weak person, I was wide open to anything in Gensokyo unless I had proper backup. I once again thought about what might have happened if I woke up from having my head bang on the SDM's walkway instead of just staying asleep. Patchouli would have used me to test spells, and whatever was left over would be served to the Scarlet sisters. I'd just be remains in the basement of the SDM, possibly, and Haruhi would never know what happened to me. I would have been killed, prepared by Sakuya for brunch, and what wasn't eaten tossed away. That was quite sobering. Again, thank you healing ability. I wanted to start yelling at Reimu and Mokou and everyone in Gensokyo over this insanity, yet I could see the logic behind it all. The reality is that it's just a different world from mine, with its own set of rules. As long as you're in the village, you're protected. Four years ago, that kid died because she left the safety of the village, and Mokou found the youkai responsible, or so I've since heard.

Or maybe it's not so different. Generally, in the modern world, when an animal attacks and kills a human, that animal is then hunted down by the populace. Why? Because that animal had a taste of human flesh and would therefore start attacking people. That's civilization taking care of its own against the wilderness or any kind of animal. So is it so far fetched that the human village had the same idea? Not really. And like Chiyuri said, if you decide to leave civilization, you're open to whatever is out there. If the elements don't get you, the wild animals might, and again, you'd be lucky to have someone find your remains.

I quickly got rid of those thoughts, returning my attention to the youkai down on the ground. "So we just leave her then?" Yamame's gonna be really angry when she wakes up in chains.

"She'll be okay." Reimu began to walk to the exit, talking over her shoulder, her tone having a finality of the situation. "She'll be sleeping for a few hours, and when she wakes up, she'll still be chained, but it should wear off in about a day or so before she's free to do spider things again. But enough of her." She quickly waved her hand for us to join her. "Let's get going."

"Yeah I don't want to be around when she wakes up angry and looking to infect people." I looked down again at the spider, hoping she wouldn't try to take vengeance or something. Wriggle holding a grudge was one thing...

I looked around, finding that Wriggle was gone. Youmu later told me that the bug took off when the spiders web that covered the entrance was shattered. Coward. Also, you're welcome, from all of us. And isn't Cirno a friend of yours? You just took off without saying anything. Stupid bug.

You try to do favors for some people...

The Meltdown of Haruhi Suzumiya

Episode 3:

["The Envy of Parsee Mizuhashi"]

The Deep Road Connecting the Past and the Above Ground World

The Deep Road to Hell

-Stage 2, Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism

Ran looked around the dorm hallway, hoping she didn't stick out too much. Her ears and tails were concealed, so she wasn't drawing any stark attention, though she did get a few curious looks from passing girls, wondering who she was. Making sure that she was alone in the hallway, she lightly knocked on the door to Haruhi's room. Tsuruya opened the door, beaming.

"Heya! You're uh, that lady, right? That fox lady from earlier?"

Ran shushed her, quickly stepping inside. She took note that Haruhi was still asleep, and that Emiri was also in the room. Sitting on the edge of Haruhi's bed, the interface was staring down at her. Kind of creepy. I'd dislike having one of those interfaces watching me sleep, I think.

Tsuruya blushed a bit, lowering her voice. "Oh! Sorry! Just..." The girl looked over the fox. "I've never met a kitsune before. I mean, I saw you earlier, but, you're an actual kitsune! How old are ya anyway?"

Ran decided to amuse the human a bit. "Over a thousand years old, miss." Tsuruya again exclaimed loudly, causing Ran to reshush her. "Haruhi is asleep for a reason, okay? Let's not wake her up and start asking questions as to where Koizumi, Nagato, and Kyon are." I know you're loud, but I didn't know this loud!

"Speaking of Nagato." Emiri got up locking eyes with the fox. "You were sent here for a reason."

Ran bowed, eager to get away from the loud human. Even though her ears were hidden, she still had her sharp hearing. The two quickly left Tsuruya to guard Haruhi, and made their way down the dorm hallways.

"We appreciate the gesture of Yakumo sending assistance, but it may be futile. I checked our room - Nagato is not there."

"I know - Chen checked the room. Maybe this is a useless task, but Lady Yukari also brought up a point, and has asked me to double check."

They rounded a corner, passing by more college students, and waiting for them to get out of earshot. "The point being?"

"That we appear to have a force against us that is actively preventing us from our tasks. When Lady Yukari took you into her world and explained why she was acting the way she was..."

Emiri paused for a second, her face showing slight thoughtfulness. "Right. I see now. You think that if something happened, someone took great care that I wouldn't notice."

Ran nodded. "Correct. An extra set of eyes might help out anyway."

The two walked down the final hall in silence, stopping at the dorm room of Emiri and Nagato. After unlocking it, the two went in, closing the door behind them, and stood there. Ran noted that the room looked pristine, as expected from two interfaces. When Nagato had her apartment, she kept it clean and orderly. This was no different. Even when she became more 'human', Nagato still finds time to...

Ran jutted her jaw to the side, looking around. Something about this was making her instincts cry foul. This seems almost too clean.

"I heard you shikigami are like computers."

"Yes." Ran tentatively stepped into the room, unsure of what was putting her off. "We can process things quite quickly, and I believe that our mechanics are somewhat similar. It's true that Lady Yukari uses me to process things."

"As a shikigami, the more you are 'used', the stronger you get."

"Correct. Well actually, it's the more orders that we follow, the stronger we become. That's the life of a shikigami. You serve well, correctly, and faithfully, you become more powerful. Failure to do so results in a shikigami becoming weaker, eventually wasting into nothing. Suffice to say, disobedient shikigami don't last..." Ran took in the room's scent, finding that she didn't even smell the interface's scents in the room, besides from Emiri herself. The fox frowned. "Did you clean up this room?"

"No."

Ran slowly knelt down, eyeing the carpeting. Even there, there were no footprints. "Did you vacuum?"

"Not recently, to my knowledge." Emiri lowered too, her eyes widening when she saw what Ran was seeing. "How did I miss this?"

"A problem with being too clean and orderly, I suppose. It's easy to replicate." She sniffed again. "Even your scents are gone from the room." Ran carefully approached the beds, lightly sniffing them as well. "No... the sheets are... they don't have your scents."

Emiri moved to her bed, inspecting the sheets. "Interesting. They were sanitized. Zero microbials or dead skin cells."

This is very worrying. Ran's brow furrowed, as she picked up another scent. "I'm also going to assume you didn't paint the wall over here." The kitsune moved to the wall above Nagato's bed - for a small spot. Reaching into her pocket, she produced a handkerchief, and rubbed at the wall.

Right there underneath a newly painted spot, was a small danmaku scar.

Ran took a few steps back, wide eyed. "...This isn't good." She inspected the paint, finding traces of magical power in it. "I see." Ran turned to Emiri, the interface looking defeated. "That's why you didn't detect anything. Someone took the time and effort to make sure you couldn't find out what happened."

"But didn't you check this room?"

"Chen did." Ran sighed, putting away the handkerchief. "As much as I appreciate her, she's not as good a shikigami as I am, sadly. If I personally checked it myself, I might have noticed it. Or maybe not. I would have simply looked for Nagato, not evidence of other things."

"..." Emiri stared in silence at the mark on the wall.

"I know." Ran stared too. "That's definitely a danmaku scar. Someone attacked Nagato with danmaku, it appears."

The interface lowered her head. "If only I had been here last night. I'd been away for the past two days. I had some tasks to accomplish-"

"It's okay," Ran quickly responded, not wanting the interface to blame herself. "Someone just took advantage of it. Not your fault. They would have looked for any other way to do... whatever this is."

"Nagato was definitely attacked."

"Yes. That's what this appears to be." Ran again looked to the sheets, and the carpet. "No, that's what this has to be. Someone covered their tracks and made sure you wouldn't find out about the danmaku scar." Ran shook her head. "I'm afraid Nagato was attacked. But I don't even know if she's dead or not." The fox let out a sigh. "...I am not going to like giving out this news..."

All in all, it hadn't even been an hour since we left the surface by the time we left Yamame's chamber. The cave tunnels continued further down, and the miner equipment stopped, which, thankfully, also meant we didn't find any more remains. The fairies were following us out of sight, though Sunny said she needed sunlight to manipulate the light bending - however, it seemed that the light given by the glow sticks was enough. This actually surprised the little fairy, but she took it in stride. Hey, if you get a lucky break, take it.

Though... didn't she bend light during the night time? During the revolution, those three broke into the Hakurei shrine to get the Mallet under cover of darkness, even able to slip by the likes of Reisen, Remilia, and Reimu. You know, a trained soldier, a vampire, and a miko with her gut feelings. That is some stealthy skill. Then again, the light coming off the moon is just sunlight being reflected after all. I guess it was just light in general, and it was a fairy's limited knowledge being the case. Star reminded us that she could detect life (seriously, these three are so useful if you know how to use their powers together), so the three fairies, along with Cirno, followed while cloaked; Star saying she would warn us of any threats.

I had asked if we could all be made invisible - you know, so we could attempt to stealth this. Sunny tried, but the lack of real light hindered her, it seems. She barely had enough influence for the four fairies. She said she might be able to extend it to cover five people, but that would be moot. Shame. We would have done well to just go through this unseen by all the youkai down here.

While we were in the air going through the tunnels, occasionally we'd hear a slight rumbling around us. Patchouli said it was seismic activity, that the ground had been spewing more and more geysers lately, among other things. In fact, Yukari then said that this was how she was supposed to know this incident was going to happen in the first place, in a vanilla timeline anyway. Since Tenshi caused an earthquake back in the summer, Yukari would have asked Patchouli to watch for any more possible earthquakes - which would have led to them finding out about the underground incident. Again, that was a vanilla timeline.

"Betcha you're grateful for the heat protection, huh?" said Mokou as she moved around a small opening of steam. We passed by it, and I barely even felt the heat.

So just these are enough to protect me from burning or searing. That's great. No sarcasm there. I wonder how it would hold up against a nuclear youkai, however. Of course, I didn't want to put that to the test. I have to consider getting some of these fire protection amulets for summer. They certainly would have helped during that heat wave when Reimu, Marisa, Youmu, and Sakuya visited us.

"You sure it's gonna be safe, with all these little earthquakes going on?" Chiyuri would watch the ceiling every so often, worried that we'd get another boulder crashing down on us at any moment. At most, some dust would rain down with every little rumble, which would produce maybe a cough or two from us very now and then. "The last place anyone should be during an earthquake is underground."

[Nitori:] "As opposed to, say, a house that could collapse?" I heard the slight snark in the kappa's voice.

[Remilia:] "We're fine in here. Most of the building has been built to withstand Flan, so we're good for a few jolts from the ground."

I guess that's one way to prepare for disaster. Have one actually live with you

[Kaguya:] "I almost forgot. Speaking of this building, Miss Scarlet, are you going to reopen the pool any time soon?"

Things had been somewhat silent from the other end of the orb for a while, just them quietly chatting amongst themselves, and then suddenly Kaguya spoke up. Pool?

[Remilia:] "Why use the pool when there are numerous hot springs?"

[Kaguya:] "I suppose that makes sense. Hot springs are better during the winter after all, and it's cold in here anyway."

"What pool?"

Marisa grinned at me - we had taken off the masks after leaving Yamame's chamber. "Oh that's right. You guys weren't here for that, ze."

"Okay, okay, wait a second. Milady, you have a pool? Where?" That would have been so good to relax by four years ago, and we could have had a pool moon viewing party. That sounds awesome.

[Patchouli:] "Right here."

I blinked. "Where...?"

[Remilia:] "Right here under us."

My head began to hurt, and I brought my palm to my forehead. "There is a pool in the library?" Please tell me I'm misunderstanding you.

[Remilia:] "Yeah. We installed it. It's right under the floorboards here in the central area. We just have to move them, and instant pool."

I didn't misunderstand them. "You have a pool in the library?"

[Remilia:] "I just said yes, we do."

"...Why have a pool in a library?"

[Remilia:] "Why not? Who are you to tell me I can't have a pool where I want? Also, it's a way for Patchy here to get some exercise for once."

"But a pool in a library." I don't think even Haruhi would do something so insane!

[Patchouli:] "The books in the immediate area have water proofing seals, so there is no water damage to them."

"But still... pool in a library. I still can't get over that notion. I mean, just say it out loud yourself. 'I have a pool in my library.' That is one of the silliest things I've heard, which in itself is silly, considering my experiences in weirdness. And the fact that the library is cold, it's got to be freezing."

[Remilia:] "Uhm, magic? We can heat the area if need be. And I did say I have a pool in my library."

Stop saying that! That is just too silly! You're flaunting your wealth you rich brat!

[Patchouli:] "It's pretty good, Kyon. We can make it like summer in this small pocket, and have a pool any time of the day, at any time of the year."

"We're still talking about a pool in a library! Also with all the rooms you have in that mansion, I'd think you'd already have a pool somewhere else! I mean you have a garage I couldn't find, a theater I've never been to, and who knows what else!" Remilia was also to have a ballroom I had never seen, as that was where she gathered a number of people to show off her "Rocket" for the moon invasion before the invasion. I think. I think she just used that to boast. The notes weren't clear on that.

"The previous pool got destroyed by Lady Flandre a long time ago, before I even showed up." That was Sakuya. "Big accident, from what I hear. She didn't mean it, but that room was pretty much abandoned."

"Then clear it out, build it again, but don't just ignore what you already have and put it in a library!" Looking back on this now, I don't know why this got to me, but it did. I guess it was just a pet peeve thing. I don't know. It just struck a nerve with me for no good reason. Maybe it could have also been attributed to the fact that Remilia acted like a spoiled rich brat at times. Not all the time, but just enough to make one dislike her every so often. "That's just insane! Imagine putting a tennis court in a study, or a lawn dart area in a conservatory! Just putting whatever, wherever!"

[Remilia:] "...Those don't sound like bad ideas."

Don't take what I said as suggestion!

[Yukari:] "And besides, the library is a focal point. A lot of people come here, so why not? What is more relaxing than reading by the poolside?"

...You got me there. My mom loved to read by the poolside when I was younger when we would go. Still does.

[Patchouli:] "Even though I don't want it to be a focal point."

The way Patchouli said that indicated she said that to one person - the one flying the broom. Marisa let out an unapologetic chuckle.

[Remilia:] "Kyon, it's my mansion, and I wanted a pool in my library, so I put a pool in my library. End of story. When you own your own home, then you can get back to me on that."

"...It's still a pool in a freaking library." You really are an insane youkai. An insane youkai with the money and power to live out her fantasies.

The vampire growled at me over the radio.

[Remilia:] "Don't make me drown you in it."

Part of me wanted to laugh at that. The absurdity of the whole situation was just insane. We heard a phone ring from the other side of the orb, and there was muffled speaking, before Yukari came back on. She didn't sound happy.

[Yukari:] "Okay, before I tell you this, I have to remind you that you have to keep moving."

[Yuyuko:] "What's wrong?"

[Eirin:] "...It's the interface, isn't it?"

...Nagato...

When Eirin said that, worry shot through me. My grip around Marisa tightened. "Hey, uh, Kyon? I like it when you cling to me, but this is-" She paused, as she realized the context, of why I was reacting.

[Yukari:] "Ran found out that someone took the time to sanitize and clean up Nagato's room, and cover up a danmaku scar."

A dozen different scenarios played out in my head, all of them bad. I turned to the orb. "Yukari-"

[Yukari:] "Kyon, calm down. We don't know what happened."

[Nitori:] "It sounds like she was attacked though."

Nagato... My breathing quickened.

Marisa quickly turned her head to me. "Hey, calm down, ze. Don't be assuming the worst, okay?"

Nagato. I could feel my heartbeat rise as complete helplessness took over my body.

Chiyuri came up to me, placing both hands on my shoulders and looking me right in the eye. "Hey, stay with us. Until we find out what happened, don't assume anything, okay?"

I looked around. Everyone was looking at Koizumi and I with compassion. They knew what this sounded like. Speaking of Koizumi, his head lowered, and he fell silent. He couldn't even muster up one of his smiles. This was affecting him too.

Chiyuri shot a glance over to Koizumi, before returning her attention to me. "We'll find out what happened, and we'll deal with it, all right? But we got to focus."

I gave Chiyuri a weak nod. Nagato... After this, I'm going to find out what happened. There is no way you will be forgotten by me! I swore I wasn't going to lose anyone, much less losing one of my best friends!

Yukari sighed, watching Kyon's reaction on the television sets the kappa had set up in the middle of the table. It was transmitting a black and white video feed from what the orb was seeing. The televisions were small enough so that she could see the rest of the people at the table, and Eirin was just giving the youkai a disappointed look.

"You sure that was wise, Yakumo?"

"They deserve to know the truth, Doctor." Yukari leaned back in her chair, not feeling good about having to share that information. "Granted, I would have kept silent, but I did promise Yuyuko to tell them." Yukari eyed her ghost friend, making sure she saw her resentment. "Happy?"

"Not really. No. Who could be with that kind of news?" With a small, sad smile, she gave a nod. "But thank you for sharing it with them. They did deserve to know."

Things aren't black and white. Lots of shades of gray to account for, and I'd rather keep them in the dark for what they can't afford to know.

[Kyon:] "So what now?"

Kyon just stared into the camera lens, obviously struggling with this information, but still not letting it take control. Good. You're keeping your head in the incident. Yukari was worried that this might be a tipping point for Kyon, after what he had to deal with already. "Ran will continue her investigations. You keep going." Kyon continued to stare into the lens for several moments, before he appeared to take a deep breath, and gave a nod.

The atmosphere coming from the orb and from around the table was the same - losing Nagato was a big loss. Her performance against Eientei four years prior had impressed even the Lunarians, and she could hold her own in danmaku battles.

[Reimu:] "This is not ideal, Yukari."

"I know."

The miko glared right into the camera lens.

[Reimu:] "First, seals prevent some of our more powerful people from coming along this incident, and someone went out of their way to take Nagato out of the equation."

[Koizumi:] "Can you not say it like that, Miss Hakurei?"

[Reimu:] "How else would you say it? No, this incident already bothers me. Someone is going around sabotaging us and our efforts."

Reimu pointed at the orb, her anger apparent through the screen.

[Reimu:] "Yukari, you need to come clean, now. You've mentioned the Komeiji sisters as the rulers of the ancient city and the 'owners' of this Okuu thing. But who are they, really? What are we getting ourselves into, besides them being satori?"

"In due time, Reimu. I'd rather you focus on the threats as they come to you, otherwise you might get distracted." Yukari eyed everyone at the table as well. "That goes for everyone, out with you, and in this library. You know that a nuclear youkai is your ultimate goal, but don't let that blind you to some of the youkai you'll be facing. They will be tough."

[Reimu:] "...Fair enough, but-"

Yukari relented, not wanting to argue with the miko. Reimu could really be stubborn. When the time is right, I'll let you know everything I know. But I'm being watched. If I let on what I've found out, I risk your very lives. But a little information on the Komeijis shouldn't hurt. "The Komeiji sisters are indeed mind readers, which makes them dangerous to take on in a fight. As I've mentioned before, Satori, the elder sister, is especially annoying as she can reach into your mind and copy any attack, spell, or whatever and use it against you. From her own words, she likes to make one 'relive old traumas.' I'm just paraphrasing that, but you get the gist. Thankfully, the younger sister, Koishi, won't be there."

[Kyon:] "What's her deal? You've mentioned... wait... a satori's name is 'Satori?'"

You're clear-headed enough to let that bother you. That was a good sign. Also, I quickly forget how amusing you look when you get flabbergasted.

[Youmu:] "Not very creative with names down here, are they? I mean that spider had a card that just read 'Cave Spider.'"

[Kyon:] "You know, I had that very thought about Yamame, that she wasn't creative."

If you only knew. "Yes, the elder Komeiji sister is named her race. But that's not important. Satori owns the Palace of the Earth Spirits."

[Kyon:] "Okay, I'll drop the name thing. ...Still... No. Gotta get back on track. What's so bad about the younger sister? I mean, the older one sounds like she's gonna be a tough fight already. You told us as such years ago."

Suika sat up in her chair wiping her mouth after taking another drink. "The younger Komeiji, Koishi, is, like, unique or whatever. She hates what she is - a mind reader. Humans don't trust those who can find out their deepest, darkest secrets, and that extends to us youkai as well. That's kinda how the Komeijis got into power, and isolated themselves. They're very powerful, but extremely hated and distrusted. Now, Satori accepted that, but Koishi never did. She couldn't take the hatred she constantly got from everyone around her. So, she... sealed up her satori power, and vanished."

[Sanae:] "She sealed up her power? So she denies what she is, and she got away with it?"

"Very unusual indeed." Alice rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "When that happens, when a youkai gets rid of their very purpose, their being, they tend to cease to exist."

That's why Koishi is so troublesome. She's one of the few to get away with it, and... Yukari knew the trouble Koishi would cause, her actions leading to difficulties for a future incident.

[Marisa:] "So she won't be a factor, ze?"

Suika paused to take a drink. "That's the weird thing, actually. Koishi just does her own thing, y'know? It's like she's free from the shackles of what a youkai is, because she can make people forget she even exists sometimes."

[Mokou:] "Like Keine?"

"Ah, kinda." Suika leaned on the table, propping her chin on her hand. "It's kinda difficult to explain because I don't really know it myself, and most of the info I have on the sisters is like, second hand."

"What Suika is saying is that Koishi is near impossible to locate, even for myself." Koishi being so unique is what makes her extremely dangerous. "Mostly because of her power, and her power is why I'm grateful she won't be a part of this." I hope.

[Koizumi:] "What's... what's her power?"

"She can make herself unnoticeable, due to the passive effects of her power. Koishi can be right in front of you and you won't see her unless she really gets your attention. She can't be detected at all, unless she allows it, and even then - even then, you probably won't remember her. You see, when she sealed her mind reading powers, she went a little too far and ended up sealing her own mind."

[Kyon:] "What the heck does that mean?"

"Koishi has that forgetful effect that you experienced when you entered the human village on the Endless Night. It effects her and the people she comes into contact with - in fact, you may have already met her; you just can't remember." Yukari slowly shook her head. "Seriously, she's all over the place. Now she's a creature of id, and she can't be known to you unless you manage to put down the information on her in the first place. You can't remember her 'bad' parts, yes, but you can't remember anything 'good' about her either. She can do this," Yukari paused, steeling herself for saying it. "Because when Koishi sealed her mind, she lost her conscious mind, and now has total control of the subconscious."

Everyone fell silent for the next few moments. Yukari knew they understood what that implied.

[Chiyuri:] "Wait a second. Does that mean what I think it means?"

One of the possible ways for all of this to go bad. "I'm afraid so. Koishi is essentially subconsciousness itself. I'd rather not test it, but theoretically, she'd be able to control Yasumi." Yukari grimaced, noticing the similar looks on everyone else's face. "That's why I'm grateful Koishi isn't there for this. That's what I want to say. But considering the seal up on the blowhole, something about this incident changed, and I can't be sure to what extent. Maybe Koishi came back home, and she and Satori made sure nobody really strong could get down there to challenge them. Who knows at this point. If the Komeijis are really behind this, then even Yasumi wouldn't be able to stop them. In fact, they'd take ownership of her. In theory."

[Tenshi:] "...Are you kidding? Yasumi wasted me. If she becomes controlled-"

"Exactly. There are so many ways that this incident can go bad, and I'm not even sure what's changed." Yukari sat up straight in her chair again. "Makes it very difficult for me to properly prepare. I've prepared as far as I can for it, but without knowing the extent of what has changed, it has been rendered moot." If only I knew who was behind this,of what is really going on, I can properly make plans. But again, I'm being watched. Once I know, and I'm free to act, it'll be all over for them.

Remilia just stared at Yukari from across the table. Even the bratty vampire knew the seriousness of the whole thing, of what threat a creature like Koishi could pose. "Yakumo, if Yasumi falls under control-"

"I know." Yukari slightly raised her hand. "I know, Miss Scarlet. There are too many ways this incident can go bad, not counting what everyone knows is coming. Knowing what threat Utsuho poses is bad enough." Yukari looked to Remilia, Yuyuko, and Eirin. "I don't want to burden your servants with excessive worry, okay? Now do you see why I have been acting the way I have been? I'd rather you all get the information as it becomes relevant." But as soon as that person stops watching, as soon as she makes her move, I can retaliate and give out the information I've learned. But I'll also need to know who it is...

"Things went from bad to worse."

If Yasumi turns, if she becomes controlled, then what true chance would we have? That has to be one of the worst case scenarios here. Combined with the nuclear power of the youkai, and Yasumi being under control or something? We wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell, for the lack of a better term. Even that future world I saw would be nullified. Seija, I hope you really did something grand, because the further we go along, the more it looks like you're needed.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Tenshi shook her head slowly. "Man, I don't want to see what happens if she becomes a slave or something."

"That being said-

"Yo, hold up." Mokou dropped some more glow sticks at the end of the cave tunnel up ahead, as it opened up into another cavern. She paused, looking around, before turning to us. "I think this is the way we're supposed to go."

The cavern was, for the most part, a cut tunnel, about the size of a highway tunnel. A worn stone road covered the floor, indicating that this was an obvious path that lead to a civilization of some sort. Simple tiles were on the ground, occasionally broken, or smoothed over. Cut columns were on the sides, providing support, and another simple tile ceiling was above us four stories up. On some of the columns looked to be old torch holders, some even oil holders, I'm guessing for constant light. None of them were on, mind you, but this was obviously used as a high traffic area long ago. To the left, was a caved in tunnel. To the right, the tunnel led down into the darkness. It felt like we were corkscrewing around the blowhole, or the general area in the cave system we were just in. So we have to be at the bottom of the blowhole, then? That's the 2 kilometers, right?

The orb went ahead of us, taking in the sight of the tunnel.

[Suika:] "See? Told ya. The cave system down there is complex, but it all leads to the main tunnel. Lotsa different paths."

[Eirin:] "So that would put you all... at the 2 km mark I believe?"

[Aya:] "Looks like it. I've never been down there, but I've seen depictions of the tunnels, but yeah, this looks like the road to the underground realm."

[Nitori:] "A marvel of kappa engineering from long ago!"

[Patchouli:] "Still holding up after all this time too, with tons of rock above it. Not bad."

"It was quite the nice detour," mused Sakuya as she stretched. "And kind of interesting. Cave exploring was kind of relaxing."

"Not counting the infectious spider, or a mystery of dead miners, of course." I let out a forced chuckle. "I definitely could have done without that. But yeah, it was relaxing." Again, if I had backup, or if these tunnels were clear, I'd like to explore this. It was beautiful in its own way. Fascinating, really. I didn't know I enjoyed cave exploring. Or was it spelunking? Isn't that the word for it? Yeah, spelunking. Of course, normal cave explorers don't have to worry about youkai.

Reisen moved closer with a glow stick, inspecting the stonework. "Not bad. Most of this stuff has held up under all that seismic activity lately, despite its simplicity."

[Nitori:] "If there is a youkai engineering feat, you'd better believe a kappa had a hand in it!"

She sounded so happy saying that. Again I smiled.

"Koishi... Interesting." That was Sanae, who was pondering the name. A slight smile was on her face. "That's kind of funny, isn't it, that she's named that?"

[Remilia:] "...Koishi means 'little rock' in Japanese, right? What's so funny about it?"

Sanae shook her head and waved her hand. "Ah, it's just something from Doraemon. One of the gadgets is the 'Pebble Hat', which is supposed to 'make the wearer unnoticeable like a pebble on the road.' The Stone Mask in Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask takes from that..." Sanae looked around, noticing that the people from Gensokyo didn't know what she was talking about. She blushed. "Oh. Sorry. Just stuff from a game and a manga."

Mokou raised an eyebrow at her. "You guys talk about games a lot, don'tcha?"

Sanae shrugged. "It's just a massive coincidence, that she shares the power of that gadget with the same notion."

I paused, pondering it. It is a hell of a coincidence, isn't it? Also, kudos, Sanae, for remembering the Doraemon gadget.

"So basically what you're saying about Koishi," asked Chiyuri, who looked confused. "Besides her control of the subconscious, is that she can be right next to you and you won't notice?"

[Yukari:] "If she starts attacking you, you'll definitely notice. But that's correct - even if you are really perceptive, you won't notice her unless she is 'right in your face,' as you kids say it." Yukari paused, and let out a chuckle. "Interesting thing about her power - as children's minds are still developing, she's totally visible to children - most regard her as an imaginary friend since the adults can't see her. But when they grow up, they forget her. I've seen children in the village react to something that isn't there, so I estimate that Koishi frequents the village and has been the imaginary friend for a lot of kids."

That's just so sad. Koishi hated herself, now nobody can remember her. Just closing yourself off from one negative emotion like that also closes you out for the positive.

"Hold on." Chiyuri scratched her head. "If everyone forgets her, then how... how do you know her?"

[Yukari:] "...I take notes. Files. Records. A friend of mine knows the importance of records, so I followed her example. I did find it weird that I had records of a creature like Koishi when I didn't remember her, but my experiences and further notes helped me there. I have a decent file on her now, so I can't forget her. Otherwise I wouldn't know the threat she poses, especially for this incident."

Just like data entities, you know the importance of data.

Marisa started to slow down, going "Hmm."

"What's up?"

"...I'm just trying to remember if I did something like have an imaginary friend when I was younger, ze."

Reimu shook her head. "I don't think you did. I mean, I kinda knew you because of your dad, and you knew me because of what I am, and... I think I would have remembered if you were talking to thin air. I may have seen her myself when I was walking around, but I don't remember at all. If I did come across her when I was young, then I probably forgot her, but I should remember someone else reacting to her..." Reimu crossed her arms, frowning. "Now that Yukari mentions it, my intuition has gone off a few times in the village, and I could never explain it. It was always around kids, that particular feeling."

Mokou nodded. "You're right. I've seen kids talking to nothin', least, I always thought it was to themselves."

"Isn't it kind of scary for a youkai to just enter the village at will like that and be with children?" asked Youmu. "I mean, if she's anything like-"

[Yukari:] "Like I said, she frequents the village. She's not malicious, so from what I have on her, she doesn't do something like lure children away to eat them like other youkai do. She does, however, need to eat, so she's the main culprit for any food thefts in the village. I approximate like... seventy percent of the thefts within the village are actually due to her eating someone's food or 'borrowing' an item or something."

Mokou chuckled. "Heh, always thought Marisa there was the one who always did that."

"Screw you, ze!"

Sakuya smiled. "So, defender, I suppose your defense of the village has more cracks in it than you thought, if a youkai has been living with kids for this long."

[Remilia:] "Not as good as you thought you were, are you?"

Mokou stopped, then gave a big frown. "Ah... dammit." She shook her head. "Dammit, I'm gonna have to talk to Keine about this..."

[Alice:] "But what would you be able to do about her?"

Good question, what can you do about someone that you'll instantly forget about if she goes out of your range should you meet her? I mean, if you're fighting her, and she just decides to leave, won't you just forget you were fighting at all in the first place? What a tricky youkai.

"At the very least now I know what I can attribute that feeling to when I'm in the village," said Reimu who still had her arms crossed and was thinking this over. "Just because she erases herself from minds doesn't mean she's not physically there." The miko looked to the orb. "Danmaku should work, right?"

[Yukari:] "Yes, but like her sister, she is exceptionally powerful. But because she freed her mind, she's somehow even more powerful than her older sister Satori. Kind of like the Scarlet sisters and their power difference."

[Eirin:] "I see. There are close enough similarities. Elder sister commands a place, younger sister has part of their mind lost, but is way more powerful."

[Flandre:] "Do you think this Koishi would be a good friend for me?"

[Remilia:] "Maybe, but you'd probably end up destroying her."

At least Flandre was doing okay after being hit by that barrier earlier. She sounded okay.

[Yukari:] "That being said, Koishi generally isn't hostile, but if she was, a grown adult wouldn't be able to do anything against her as she tears them to pieces. They'd die totally confused because they can't remember what is attacking them. Just... just be grateful she's not a mean youkai. At least, that's the vanilla her. Again, I don't know if something changed here, so take care. In a real fight you wouldn't stand much of a chance against her or her sister, for that matter."

Setting that aside, what an interesting creature Koishi was turning out to be. Barring the terrifying implications of her power to control the subconscious and what Yukari said concerning Koishi in a real fight; considering that Yasumi is Haruhi's subconsciousness, this unique youkai for the most part is friendly with children. I wonder how many lonely kids got a friend in her only for them to forget her when they grew out of seeing her. That's just... I don't know. Sad and wonderful at the same time. Usually when kids get an imaginary friend, it's to fill a void of having no friends, and Koishi would fill that role for them. And how unique is she - a youkai who is always forgotten but won't fade away.

We followed the tunnel, my mind drifting back to Nagato due to that thought of data, and what could have happened, causing my smile to fade. Worse case scenario, if Nagato was killed, then... I didn't know how to handle that. At the very least, Nagato was indeed attacked. If she was alive, then I don't know the situation she was in. Injured, captured, what? "No, she had to be captured." I didn't even know I said that aloud.

Koizumi, who was silent for a while, looked to me. "Hmm?"

I slowly shook my head. "No, Nagato had to be captured. If she wasn't incapacitated by the attack, then she was captured, or at least taken out of the equation. She had to have been attacked. She would have at least made some sort of attempt to contact us otherwise."

Koizumi slowly nodded, processing this. "...You're right."

"That's assuming she wasn't-" Reimu caught herself before she could say it. She stared at the two of us, her usual stern look softening. "...No, you're right. She had to have been captured."

Thanks, Reimu. It's on my mind too. I don't want to be considering the notion I may have lost one of my best friends on such a day. I came into this not wanting to lose anyone, and I might have already lost someone close to me without me being able to do anything about it. It was eating me up, and the worst part is that I had to suppress it. At least Yukari was looking into it, with help from the Data Overmind.

"That begs the question, doesn't it?" asked Youmu, as she scratched her head. She was deep in thought over this. "Who is powerful enough to capture her?"

"Wouldn't take much, I think," said Chiyuri. "After all, we know that interfaces can become disabled. It's nothing new."

"But for her interface and her actual self to go missing?" I shook my head. "No, this is new."

Reisen held up her arm, signalling us to stop. "Hold up guys. Something up ahead." Kneeling, she aimed her gun down the dark tunnel, turning on the flashlight on her gun. Reisen had a lot of gear on her gun. ACOG scope, angled iron sights, laser/flashlight attachment. These assault rifles had rails on them, so you can attach accessories on them. That's how the bottom shotgun attachment fit. She really decked out that thing.

"What is it?"

"Shh."

The fairies faded into view. Star moved forward a bit, cocking her head to the side. "I don't detect anything... you sure about this?"

We could see where Reisen was aiming with her light, as it lit up the empty tunnel. I don't know how old this all is, but it's obviously old. If the Gensokyo area was around at least a thousand years ago, then I wonder if this tunnel dates back then.

"I feel it too." Youmu drew her sword, her samurai face coming on. "It's a spirit. Phantom, I think."

Ah, great. Ghosts. Not only that, but ghosts from Hell, of all places. I had already seen Heaven earlier that year, and I was on my way to Hell. I had hoped to avoid ghosts that were sent down here, but already that wasn't going to be the case.

Upon hearing that, Star immediately went to the other fairies, a worried expression on her face. "That's why I didn't detect it!" The fairies faded out of view.

We stared down the tunnel, the darkness silently taunting us with what it was hiding from our view. A small light began to dance in the tunnel, about the size of a pinhead from where I was. It kept growing as it neared, making me uneasy.

All my internal alarms were going off. "Guys? Someone get that!"

It dashed towards us, and I could clearly see it. It looked like some sort of blue moving gas, but with a skull inside of it. Sanae, I know what you're gonna say - they look like the damn Blue Bubble enemies from Ocarina of Time without the wings!

Letting out an inhuman squeal, the skull ghost thing went for the closest target - Reisen. The rabbit opened fire, bullets bouncing off -

Youmu cut into it, the skull being sliced in half through the mouth, and it dissipated into nothing. The gardener had dashed forward, and thanks to her sword speed, cut into the skull faster than it could have reacted. If a skull could have looked surprised, then that was the look on the face of the thing as it became nothing.

"Vengeful spirit!" Youmu kept staring down the tunnel, ready for more attackers. "These guys will fill you with negativity, or eat up the being of a youkai! Nasty creatures!"

As a bodyguard of a ghost, in a land of ghosts, I guess your weaponry is able to take on such creatures.

[Patchouli:] "Born from greed, malice, and other sins. Vengeful spirits are phantoms, and could be naturally occurring youkai, or simply 'reborn' souls of the damned. Miss Konpaku is correct - they are very nasty, so don't let one get attached to you."

Man, I just got rid of misfortune. Now I might get a soul of the damned stuck to me? At least I had two Shinto mikos who could exorcise, right?

"Stay close to me, Kyon!" Youmu moved near, swords out.

You don't have to tell me twice! I nodded, patting on Marisa's shoulder so we could go behind the gardener.

"We got more!"

Down the tunnel, a single bright spirit had materialized.

And another. And another. And even more.

"...Far more!"

I think we're going the right way for Hell.

Everyone lined up, ready to start blasting away at this incoming onslaught. There were just so many! Dozens of those spirits with the skulls in them, all coming right for us!

I thought I heard Star say something about another person coming when, before anyone opened fire , there was a flash of blue cloth, and one by one, the spirits disappeared. Someone in a long blue hooded cloak went from spirit to spirit, destroying them, not even leaving a trace. I couldn't tell what this person was doing to them, just that they didn't exist after they reached them. After dispatching the spirits, the figure then stared at us for a moment, and we couldn't see any of their features, before bounding into the darkness of the tunnel. Subsequent light shining proved futile in finding this person.

I'm not ungrateful, but I just want to know what that was all about. None of the spirits even came close to us for that one.

Youmu just stared where the person in the cloak disappeared to, the Stranger. "...Who...?"

[Yuyuko:] "Looks like you've picked up a guardian angel."

Hey, if that's the role this person is gonna do, I'll take it. Every advantage.

[Remilia:] "Now who the hell was that, Yakumo?"

There was a moment of silence from the other end of the orb.

[Yukari:] "I do not know. I have an idea, but I won't know until it's confirmed. I did get the message out to various youkai if they would like to join us, but it seemed that very few bothered showing up. But for her..."

"The world is threatened and Gensokyo can't be bothered?"

[Eirin:] "It might make it more real. If you were to tell humans in the outside that the world could possibly end today, how many would jump up and do something about it? And how many more would just go on with their lives, ignoring you?"

"When you put it like that, doctor, it's depressing."

[Eirin:] "It's true."

"That's why it's depressing." How many of those college kids in that coffee shop would stand up and do something instead of being on their laptops or phones? Not many, truthfully.

Reimu scoffed. "So at least one youkai answered the call."

[Aya:] "What makes you think it's a youkai?"

"No human comes to mind with the ability to crush spirits with their bare hands."

[Suika:] "...They crushed the vengeful spirits..."

I looked to the orb, instantly knowing that Suika had to have known who it was, and I was getting more and more irritated with all of this, of them knowing more than us. "Suika? Who was it?"

[Suika:] "...Nothing. I think. But if it is who I think it is, then this incident has gotten interesting, and you'd be in good hands."

[Yukari:] "What's worse is that if it is who I think it is, she's early in the timeline, in a sense."

Really. Stop with all of this double talk. I mean, you girls are sitting there in the damn library being served tea and I'm down here with vengeful soul-eating spirits! You're getting on my nerves!

Reimu turned to the orb, curious. "Oh? Really? Upset that your meddling might be doing more damage than the bad guys?"

[Yukari:] "It's a possibility that I live with every day. But it looks to be the case here. She is years early in becoming truly known to Gensokyo. However, she is powerful, and if she stays in a guardian angel role, she'll prove useful."

Reimu was about to say something else, but Sanae moved closer to her fellow shinto miko. "Reimu? There's a saying about gift horses, you know?" Reimu glared at Sanae. "Something went your way." Sanae smirked. "Stop complaining about it." The look Reimu gave to Sanae made the part-god miko's smile drop. "I'm just saying. You're too negative sometimes."

"You're still too naive, Sanae." Reimu crossed her arms, giving her a big frown. "Then again, you're up in your cushy shrine, getting money and food from the damn tengu. Some of us struggle to make ends meet and struggle even harder to put food on the table."

Sanae dropped all pretenses of being nice. "Maybe it isn't the youkai. Maybe you're just bad at your job."

[Aya:] "Uhm, can you guys stop fighting?"

[Nitori:] "Yeah, uh... what's-"

The two mikos turned to the annoying orb, telling it to shut up.

Meiling barely noticed the two youkai who had showed up, and went underground. She couldn't believe who they were, and that they were offering their services, and she was even more surprised when the barrier didn't even effect them. Maybe the barrier knows better. Things just got easier for the group down there, that's for damn sure.

She returned her attention to the phantom poltergeist in red, who was inside the shack with her and Mystia. The bird was busy preparing lunch, hearing out the problems of the keyboardist. The other two Prismrivers were outside, talking to Whiterock about something. When they came in, Lyrica just fell silent, and the two sisters decided to give her some space. Lunasa had taken Meiling aside and asked if she could just watch over her, and that if the barrier went down, they'd probably leave her up here for her own good.

"I don't know why I'm here."

Meiling turned from the window. "Hmm?"

"Uhm, we're here to help out, remember?" Mystia looked over her shoulder from the old stove. "In case someone finds a way to break the seals there-"

"No, that's not what I mean." Lyrica was leaning against the wall, and had her arms wrapped around her. Her face just showed pure depression. "I don't even know if I wanna talk about it."

No, if you didn't want to talk about it, you'd keep silent and find another room to be alone in. You're here with us and talking. You obviously want us to hear you out, but not your sisters. Meiling was intrigued by this. "Why not? I mean, is it embarrassing?"

"No. I mean, maybe. No. Not really. But it is."

"You're not making any sense."

"Look. It's just-"

Mystia sighed. "The Yama, right?" Lyrica lowered her head. "I was there too, remember?"

"Wasn't that three years ago? You're still bothered by whatever it is?" Meiling turned to Mystia when Lyrica refused to comment on that. "What did she say?" Meiling took a step to the night sparrow. "Come on, bird, I wanna know."

When most of the incident resolvers had gone to solve that Flower Incident, it changed a few of them. The Yama had judged them right then and there, showing them their flaws, their sins, their reasons for existing. Lyrica was the one who took it the hardest. In fact, even before the incident, Lyrica was acting weird. The Prismrivers broke up before that incident, cancelling all the concerts, and disappointing a lot of fans, including Meiling. Some time after the incident, the Prismrivers got back together, but Lyrica hadn't been the same, and neither had their music.

Lyrica shook her head. "Don't."

"You can tell it or I can." Mystia didn't look back from the stove, keeping her attention to her cooking. "Besides, Meiling tips better than you."

Lyrica showed anger on her face, before relenting. "...I don't know why I'm here."

"You said that already."

"No, I mean, why I and my sisters are here, like, physically. Why are we still here? Not about the incident, but why are we still around?" Lyrica went to the window, and looked out to her sisters. "The Yama said it to me and my sisters when we were at the Sanzu River. "

"The souls here are human souls from the outside world. They are using the flowers as their foundation right now. You three were born as spirits. What was once your foundation doesn't exist anymore. You three are too unclear towards yourselves. At this rate, you three will either break down into chaos, or simply disappear altogether. Spirits without a foundation are extremely unstable. It appears that your musical instruments are your foundation, but that in reality is false. Your foundation was the human that created you. And that human is no longer here. If you don't wish to disappear, the first thing you must do is realize your reason for existence."

That's... that's deep. Meiling remembered the Prismriver's origins. The original Lyrica, Merlin, and Lunasa all left the Prismriver home, leaving Layla. Then Layla created three phantoms to replace her sisters so she could have a family again. Then she died, at which point the three phantoms aimlessly wandered the Earth until winding up under Yuyuko's service.

"It's been bothering me ever since. Why are we here? We were created for Layla. I mean, we aren't even real sisters. We are just phantoms given form due to Layla to play her sisters when they were gone. And... she hasn't been around." Lyrica's eyes were welling up with tears. "So why the hell are we still here? Why am I here?"

Ah. I get it now. You're having a crisis of existence. You're not sure of your place in this world. Meiling sighed. "If I may? When I was the..." Meiling paused. "I was here in Gensokyo for a while before milady showed up. I was... uhm... very territorial, so the job I got kinda coincided with that. Now I protect the land and the people on that land. I'm in charge of the safety of those under my protection, and it's very satisfying work. I really do enjoy it." Meiling paused, making sure that Lyrica was listening. She was. "Before I met milady, I had no purpose. Since then, I have. I found my belonging in this world. I think that's important."

Lyrica's brow furrowed, as she was starting to get upset. "Yeah, well, you had some guidance from the Scarlet Devil of Gensokyo. You were lucky."

Meiling looked to the side for a moment, before she continued. "What I can take from what the Yama said, and what you said, is that Layla Prismriver created you to be her family, and to play instruments. It's no mistake you're a musical phantom."

"The original Prismrivers were gifted musicians, and so were we."

"You and your sisters were created to be a family, and to play your music." Mystia paused, to taste what she was cooking. She resumed stirring. "I don't know if it's that simple. That's just what I'm taking from it."

"You may not be sisters in blood, but you are family. You were created to fill a void of a family. You have lived as family."

Mystia finally turned to them, wiping her hands on her apron. "Lyrica, look. They are your sisters, no matter how you look at it."

"We're fakes," Lyrica shouted at the bird. "We were created-"

"-To be a family. And that's what you are." Mystia frowned at her, losing patience with the person she had performed with a number of times. "You play your music together. I don't know if it's that simple, but it sounds like it. And you're the one who's lucky." Mystia moved the pot from the stove top to a table. After setting it down, she returned her attention to the phantom. "I wish I had my family. When I was a bird, a normal bird, I had lived my life. I was born, grew, laid eggs, became a mother, grew old. I just didn't die." Mystia spread her arms, to show the outcome. "Then I became this, and I outlived my children, and my children's children. I don't even know what happened to my bloodline, if it still exists out there in Germany, when I came here. You're lucky that you have people to call sisters, and that they're still with you. Not everyone is blessed to have that life. You are."

Lyrica just stared at the bird, before slowly turning to the window again, her eyes going to her sisters once more.

"Maybe it is that simple." Meiling moved closer to the phantom. "Your purpose is to be a family and to play your music. That's a happy way to live. A whole lot of people would kill to have that kind of life."

Lyrica didn't answer them for a while, just kept staring. The phantom took a deep breath, then shook her head. Meiling got disappointed, as she knew the phantom had rejected or was resisting that answer.

"I... I don't know. Maybe." Lyrica turned away from the window, crossing her arms, deep in thought.

I hope you at least consider it. Like it or not, they really are your family.

Wriggle looked around, finding herself at the spider lair again, frustration setting in. She had been walking through the tunnels, unsure of where to go, and had ended up staring at the wide cavern, with the spider still knocked out and tied up. Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to find my way back?

She had ran from the group out of pure fear when she was let free. It was such a primal fear, especially for a bug, to be caught in a spider's web, and she had experienced it. She couldn't help herself - the terror had total control over her. Wriggle felt ashamed about leaving Cirno, and had been regretting it ever since she found herself in some random tunnel. Especially since. I didn't even know where I ran to.

She sighed, looking back the way she came, trying to remember the way she had entered the caves in the first place. I... She stared at a glow stick in a tunnel fork, unable to believe she had missed that, and feeling stupid for doing so. Then again, I was running away. Wriggle didn't have time to look for glow sticks. She took a few steps-

And out of that tunnel came two youkai, which put fear into Wriggle again.

You two?! What are you doing here?!

Chiyuri said she may have seen another package up ahead, so she went to it. However-

"The village appreciates me more."

"Only because of the fan service you give them."

"No, it's because I actually do things for Shinto." Sanae scowled at Reimu. "You use your being a shrine maiden to line your pockets. That's so immoral and wrong!"

Reimu went up to Sanae, pretty much nose to nose. The glare she gave the other miko was something else. "Have you ever been hungry? Gone hungry? Been cold, alone, and hungry day in, day out, week after week? No, you're from the outside world and you had your air conditioning, your heaters, and your modern technologies. You've had gods with you, and been warm and comfy in the outside world. Me? My family is gone, and I've had to fend for myself. I have to rely on donations, okay?"

"That doesn't give you the right to-"

"But it gives you the right to just swoop in and try to take my home?"

"Not my fault the village can't stand you and left your shrine to you and the youkai. You're a poor excuse for a miko."

"You're a c-"

"Enough, both of you!" Reisen looked back at them. The two had been arguing for the past five minutes, escalating their barbs. I was surprised it hadn't come to blows, but also part of me wanted it to, just so it could end, as it was getting on my nerves.

Remiu and Sanae both barked back. "Stay the hell out of this, rabbit!"

"No!" The soldier stopped, finally causing our group to stop moving. "No, you two are just bitching about the dumbest things! Even during boot camp, the worst soldiers didn't complain as much as you two are right now!"

Youmu, who had inserted herself in between Sanae and Reimu to keep them from tearing each other apart, shot us a worried glance. "Please! Please stop this!"

"Will you stop calling yourself a soldier?" Sakuya had her hands on her hips, and a look of pure annoyance was on her face. "You ran away from the military. You're not a soldier, you're a coward."

Reisen blinked, and her grip on her gun tightened. She stared at Sakuya in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

Reisen re-positioned herself so that she was ready to shoot, but she didn't lift up the gun. "You take that back."

"I saw what went on on the Moon." Sakuya had drawn a knife upon seeing Reisen getting into a stance. "You rabbits are slaves, aren't you? No wonder you ran."

I think I heard Tenshi ask what was going on with everyone, but they just continued. Just everyone's voice began to be grating with me, and I could feel myself flush in the face.

Reisen slightly raised her gun a few centimeters, then put it down, smirking. "If that's the case, then why aren't you running away? Or do you like being abused and used by that brat?" That struck a nerve with the maid, as she just blankly stared at the rabbit. "You see, that's the difference between us, slave. I'm proud of my service. You're proud of cleaning toilets."

"You're a runaway coward."

The annoying orb began barking out orders to stop. I couldn't tell. It sounded like white noise to me, just grinding and grinding in my ears.

Tenshi put herself in between Reisen and Sakuya, the Sword of Hisou drawn, ready to stop the both of them. "Hey. Hey, that's enough, okay?"

"Oh, right." Reisen slowly nodded, keeping her eyes on the maid and ignoring the celestial. "That's right. You already did your running away. You ran away from humanity to willingly become the slave of a mere child."

Rage flew across Sakuya's face. "Milady respects me more than your master respects you!"

"Doesn't respect you enough to train you in her craft. Then again, she has no craft. She's just a useless noble."

"Will all of you just stop?!" I gritted my teeth, as I was fed up with this. "Just shut the hell up!" I hopped off the broom, wanting to make them stop this, when Koizumi got in front of me. My anger suddenly transferred to him. "Get out of my way, Koizumi."

He vigorously shook his head, his face serious. "No. No, something's wrong." He stepped towards me, and that set me off. I cocked back my fist, ready to punch, when Mokou grabbed my hand, and flung me to the ground.

"Don't you dare, jackass!"

I hopped back to my feet, still angry, still seeing red. "He got in my face. He's always getting in my face." I lunged for him, Mokou holding me back. I couldn't take my eyes off of him, my rage just kept intensifying. "You're just so fake! Everything about you is just so fake! You keep on acting like everything is normal, even with yourself!"

Mokou pushed back against me. "Enough!"

"That's why you can't even have any real relationships! That's why you fill your empty existence with going out with so many girls! Part of you is in love with Haruhi and you can't let it go!"

Koizumi's smile dropped, his face becoming impassive.

That made Mokou falter in her holding me back, allowing me to slip out of her grasp, and I charged right for him-

I felt a sensation that I hadn't felt in years. I looked down, and Youmu had stuck the Hakurouken into my chest. All of my anger, all of my hatred, all of my... envy was gone. I stared right at Koizumi, my chest beginning to tighten as I began to realize what I had said. He couldn't bring himself to look at me.

Chiyuri came up to me, holding up a note, the writing again in that girly font.

You are being manipulated by the next youkai. Don't let her alter your emotions. Use these - she uses her eyes as weapons, and being an underground creature, she should be photo-phobic and therefore super-sensitive to light.

I always hated the idea of you fighting with your friends, especially with Koizumi. Please wake up from the state you are in.

-Mikuru Asahina

P.S. Do NOT attack the one shooting the larger shots. She's simply a danmaku familiar, and shooting her will cause her to increase her attack.

I gulped, a cold sweat coming over me. Asahina... what happened to us? What happened to me?! All I could do was apologetically stare at Koizumi. I felt so horrible for what I said.

"Hey gardener," Tenshi eyed Youmu. "They gonna be okay?"

The gardener gently nodded as she 'removed' the blade from my chest. Youmu had already gone from person to person, removing the confusion that apparently overtook us. "I think they will. They were overtaken by whatever that was, and they didn't hear Yukari."

"Yeah, and the green glowing eyes was kind of an indicator."

...My eyes turned green?!

What had happened was that Yukari and everyone else over the radio were trying to tell us what had happened to us, but we were too far gone to notice it. The fairies came into view, holding onto Cirno, as she was going ballistic and struggling, ready to go off on someone, so it even effected them when they were invisible. Her eyes had become a bright green, and when Youmu cleaved through that confusion, the fairies eyes returned to normal. What is this!?

Just like the note said, we were influenced by a youkai. Not by a vengeful spirit, but by a youkai. Speaking of what was inside the care package: a heavy duty flashlight and several... grenades. They didn't look like regular grenades, just black cylindrical canisters with holes wrapped with a blue band in the middle, and the pin on top. I read one of them, and in English it read things like "M-84" on one side, and on another...

"Stun grenades?" Tenshi picked one up, looking it over. "Flash bangs?"

I didn't know what to make of it, and before I could say anything, the others had realized what they had almost done to each other.

"I'm sorry." Reisen dropped her gun, taking a few steps back, realizing what she almost did. Small tears welled up in her eyes. "Oh God, I was about to shoot you..."

[Yukari:] "Not your fault, Reisen."

Sakuya dropped her knives too, realizing what she was about to do. "A youkai? We were-"

"Reimu." Sanae held onto her head, sorrow in her eyes. "Oh Reimu, I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of that."

Reimu slowly nodded, looking down the tunnel. "Yeah. Yeah me neither." I could see a new burning hatred in the red miko's eyes, but it wasn't directed towards any of us.

I looked to Koizumi, who still hung his head. "Hey man... we're all right?" Even though I knew that nothing I did or could say would take back what was said.

Koizumi continued to stand there for a few moments, before he lifted up his head. He gave me a smile. Fake, of course. "Of course we are. It's okay."

I began to feel hatred too, like Reimu. I felt used, and I wanted to take down this youkai that did this to me, that made me say those things. Don't tell me I got whammied by a youkai, that someone actually messed with me. If that's the case, they're gonna wish they were dead. I just felt so violated, to have somebody have their power over me like that.

[Yukari:] "Looks to me like you just experienced the power of one of the residents down there. And yes, the next youkai is a hashihime; she does have the ability to control envy."

I felt my fists clench, my body filling with righteous fury. A damn hashihime. No wonder we acted that way. It's the youkai of envy, obviously. I got used. I got filled with envy and anger and just so much negativity. Realizing that something did that to me just made me angry all over again, but directed to this new threat. Reimu, you'd better make this youkai pay. Of course, that anger was my trying to mask my shame of what was said. I looked to the orb, feeling more ashamed that I had acted that way in front of an audience. God I must have worried so many people. We all must have.

[Yukari:] "Kyon, you'll be fine."

I weakly nodded, trying my best to accept Yukari's assurance.

[Patchouli:] "Okay, hashihime. Let's see here..."

Patchouli went right into the information, thankfully trying to get us back on track. No, we are going to get back on track. And we're going to do that by kicking this youkai's butt. It had been a while since I had felt this much righteous fury. Years. Marisa had come up to me, a worried look in her eyes, and asking me if I was really okay. I gave a weak nod, and asked if we could get going. Everyone regathered themselves and we continued down the tunnel, Reisen picking up the grenades.

Over the orb, we heard more turning of pages.

[Patchouli:] "All right, says here that it used to be that hashihime were simply bridge princesses, kind of like guardian deities of a bridge, and they had their own statues for offerings. All bridges were thought to have guardians deities, to allow allies to cross and to keep enemies out. Kind of makes sense, with Japans abundance of rivers and waterways, that such a thing happened. That's... their origins go all the way to the Heian period. In 905, a Kokinshu poem showed up, ah... it goes like this."

"Upon a narrow grass mat

Laying down her robe only

tonight, again -

she must be waiting for me,

Hashihime of Uji."

I heard Remilia sigh.

[Remilia:] "Seriously, I don't get most of the Eastern youkai poems. Maybe it's just me."

[Patchouli:] "Different cultures, Remi. Now, I don't know when, but the hashihime eventually became a symbol of envy, and no longer a bridge guardian."

"No I know. It's because there were female and male deities for the bridges - a set. Two sides of the bridge, two sides to the deities." I was grateful to get my mind off of what I had done. "It's just that the shrines of the females always existed close to a bridge, and people forgot their original purposes. And new folklore took its place. Folklore that painted them with envy and revenge." I ran my hands over my face, feeling emotionally tired. I swear, I'm gonna get that hashihime for this.

[Patchouli:] "Yes, and in the Genji Monogatari, a... a Lady Rokujo became an ikiryo. That's a creature who could release their soul power while they were still alive. She was consumed with envy, turning into a monster, and she essentially gave birth to the hashihime story. And from the Heike Monogatari, there was a woman so consumed by envy that she prayed to the Kami of Kifune so she could become an oni, for her body to match her inner envy. Her wish was granted, and her powers reflected that of her strongest emotion."

[Suika:] "She ain't no oni, I can tell you that much."

"What's her name?"

[Suika:] "Parsee Mizuhashi. Kind of a black sheep even among other youkai. She's always been a pain, but she is the guardian of the bridge, and does her job well. Has always been. But that's what made her what she is. She doesn't have a lover in the past she lost to someone, like you would expect from a hashihime; she simply became envious of all the people crossing, as she was guarding. Everyone who passed her looked like they were on their way to a grand time, and that filled her with envy. Soon, she came to embody it, be filled with it. She feeds off of it. Some people consider her the avatar of envy itself, though I think that's kinda too far."

That's it? People having a good time set her off so now she just makes everyone miserable? At least Seija would pretend to be on your side to let you feel the illusion of justice. This hashihime actually sounded worse than Seija. I paused, realizing that I'd be coming across a youkai I'd put below the amanojaku. I had just placed the insufferable Seija above another youkai. Murphy's Law...

"I get it." Reimu slowly nodded. "She hates other people having a good time, being in good moods, and fills them with her envy. So we gotta be near her then."

[Yukari:] "Exactly, except you're not exactly near her. Which is why I was confused to how you were acting just now. Either she's moved, and is near you somewhere, or her range has increased. Either scenario is not appeasing."

"She's not near us. I don't sense anyone but us around."

[Yukari:] "Then her range has increased, as has her power. This fight was originally going to be difficult, and if she increased in power like Yamame, then this is definitely going bad. Don't be overconfident. Parsee is a fighter. She's a guardian. She will give you a tough time, and even if she isn't fighting you, she can induce envy. She longs to bring people down to her level of misery and self-loathing. Even if you're friendly to her, she will seek to destroy your good mood, and make everyone around her as envious as she is. She will feed off of that."

[Kaguya:] "She sounds particularly nasty."

Yeah, this is definitely a youkai I don't see us becoming friends or allies with even if we defeat her. Already this incident was different from the others I've experienced. They did say that underground youkai are different, after all.

[Yuyuko:] "Everyone, please watch over Youmu, and Youmu, watch over everyone. If they start getting angry or envious again, please don't hesitate to cleave their confusion."

Right. Right. Just like in Eientei. Already Youmu had gone and proven her worth in this.

Youmu bowed to the orb. "Of course, Lad-" She paused, blushing a deep red. "Of course, Yuyuko."

You're already past honorifics? I've been wondering how your relationship has been going.

Youmu still blushed as she returned her attention to the front. We were silent after that, as after saying what we said to each other, I think we were ashamed. I know I was. There was also a new determination in the eyes of those of us who were affected.

[Suika:] "If you want a folklore that isn't included in your books, then you'll like this one: youkai attribute the pounding of nails into straw effigies to Parsee. Supposedly, she would do that to anyone who passed by her in a good mood."

That's like voodoo doll stuff. You pound nails into straw effigies that have like hair or something of the sort from the person you want to curse. Seriously this youkai was getting more and more reasons for me to dislike her.

[Aya:] "Oh, you mean Alice's favorite pass time?"

All of us slowed down, turning to the orb. Excuse me, what? I couldn't see it, but I could feel Alice blush.

[Alice:] "Why'd you have to bring that up?"

The tengu sounded happy in reporting this to us.

[Aya:] "I've caught her a few times out in the woods pounding away at multiple straw effigies with such vigor. She'd even get her dolls to do multiple straw men at once."

[Alice:] "Aya, please..."

Who would you have a grudge against, Alice? Also, what the hell are you doing that for? You can't tell me that you are envious of people. Yukari said that you are very powerful, even though you hold yourself back. No, real question - why would Alice do this? Then again, I don't really know her - I've spent less time with Alice than even Reimu. Besides Reimu a few years ago, and Alice was vocal about her distaste for the miko back then, who would Alice hate on this much to do the straw effigies on?

Questions I'd never get the answer for.

[Suika:] "Anyway..."

The oni sounded really annoyed that she got interrupted.

[Suika:] "While Parsee is a bridge guardian, she is not a deity. However, she does have control of both jealousy and envy. She really does embody all aspects of the hashihime name. And she will actively seek to make you as miserable as her, because that's the sort of person she is. So watch out, 'kay?"

"If she thinks she's miserable now, then she's gonna find a whole new misery when I get my hands on her," grumbled Reimu.

Not if I do that first. Of course, I'd have to rely on someone else to take her down.

Yukari brought her hands to her face, feeling tired. First Yamame, then Parsee. If this continues, then Utsuho is going to be really powerful - possibly too powerful. Already she didn't like this incident or how it was going. Too many things aren't going our way. It really is like I'm being countered at nearly every turn. The group didn't know it, but Yukari had prepared in secret for this incident, getting things ready, manipulating people to help them, attempting to get more allies involved... and most of those plans fell apart. We should have had the espers helping us out, increasing our forces even more. Then they had to be called away. The strange thing was, that those closed spaces couldn't have been created by Haruhi. She was too stable to do that, especially at that scale. But those closed spaces feel like they were created by her...except... When Yukari stood over Haruhi earlier, she confirmed it. While the spaces did indeed feel like they were created by Haruhi, there was a slightly different energy. It wasn't perfect. Almost like someone with her power, or a variation of it, created those on purpose.

No, this was the work of an outside force. Yukari was being countered. As if the blockade on my portal abilities down there weren't a huge red flag. But who could counter her...

Eirin had stood up, a determined look on her face, and went to the door leading to the hall. She then turned her head, and curtly motioned for Yukari to join her. Yukari sat there for a moment, before taking off her headset and obliging. She shrugged at Yuyuko as she passed by the table. Reaching the doctor, Eirin led Yukari down the hallway, around the corner, and into a sitting room. It happened to be the same sitting room that Yukari and Yuyuko were in four years ago when Yukari got Kyon and Reimu to help Youmu confess. Turns out this room already has a history.

Yukari could read Eirin's body language. Although the doctor always did to compose herself, the youkai could tell that the Lunarian was barely able to contain her frustration. When they were alone in the room, Eirin slammed the door closed, and put her hands to her forehead, gritting her teeth.

"What in the absolute hell are you doing?!"

Yukari silently stood there, understanding the doctor's anger.

When Yukari didn't answer, Eirin continued. "I don't know what game you're playing, or what your goal is, but this recklessness has got to stop! You could have told them earlier, you could have done something! I get the feeling that you're holding back, Yakumo!"

Yukari still didn't respond.

Eirin's anger grew. "You need to come clean with me now, or I'm ordering Reisen to get out of there!"

Yukari searched Eirin's eyes, and knew that would be the case. She was telling the truth. Dammit. I'm taking a huge risk here... I don't like showing my actual cards to anyone, because that's not my style, but I do need your soldier and her abilities.

Yukari had prepared for this, of course, but she wasn't looking forward to saying it. Yukari slowly approached the doctor, and nodded.

"Fine."

In a second, a portal swept over them, transporting the two to Yukari's realm. The Lunarian was surprised for moment, before she recomposed herself. "What's the meaning-"

Yukari placed her hand over Eirin's mouth as she quickly spoke, staring right in the doctor's eyes to show she meant what she was saying. "Listen to me, and listen good, because I have a small time frame before we're found out. Lately, there has been signs of another party watching me and my actions, and I am pretty sure they're the ones who set up the barrier in the first place, countering my attempts to get everyone involved with this. In fact, they've been countering a lot of my actions, and the only respite from their eyes is when I go into my realm. It makes them pause. But that's not important." She released her hand from the doctor, and took a step back. "I don't want them to know too much of what I know about them - I've been researching, and while I have an idea of what they are doing, I have no idea of who's behind this. When I find out, or when I get the chance, I'll start making proper moves to stop them, but not before. Because they'll start countering my counters, and it's already a mess. I need you to trust me here, Doctor. I know that's a lot coming from me, but I need you to trust me." Yukari looked down to a pocket watch she took out of her pocket. "I have no intention of sacrificing anyone in this incident, and it's in Gensokyo's best interests that they all survive. Your rabbit soldier down there is especially useful to Gensokyo, so I won't throw her life away. I give you my word, Doctor, even though it doesn't mean much to you, that as soon as I am able, I will explain everything that I've found out in the last four years. Fate has forced us to ally, Doctor, so you'd better get used to it. Otherwise our world will die. Now, as soon as I take us back, after what I say, I want you to slap me as hard as you can. It will throw off whoever's watching me."

Eirin just blinked, bewildered by the barrage of info she got. She didn't have a chance before another portal swept over them, returning them to the sitting room.

Yukari gave Eirin one of the smuggest grins she could ever give. "What I'm trying to say, Doctor, is that as a manipulator, I know, above everyone else, that when you actively and openly try to pry people apart, they'll instead band together. So get used to it. This is actually good for them to have gone through what Parsee has and will do to them."

Yukari was ready for it, but it still stung. The force actually floored the youkai, and she placed her hand over her face. I hope that doesn't leave a welt. Yukari then gave the doctor a glare, which Eirin returned, but there was a curious look on her face. The Lunarian appeared to understand the situation, at least, and left the room, leaving Yukari to rub her face.

I hope that means you'll cooperate. We'll need Reisen and her demotivators, and I do need you to trust me, and be my ally. 'In order to fool your enemies, you need to fool your allies.' It was one of Yukari's most effective manipulations, to appear weak when being watched. Yukari stood up, hoping that appeased the Lunarian. It should. She hasn't had many opportunities to assault me. Consider that a Christmas gift.

Dusting herself off, she was about to leave the room when she saw a chess set on the coffee table, all ready to be played. She stared at the pieces, her eyes going between the pawns and the queens of each side.

It came to her.

So that's how I can do this. It was bugging her, the set up of her endgame, of how to pull it off, and she finally figured it out. Actually, looks like I already implemented it. Which means that... this isn't a 'vanilla' timeline... But this also meant that there had to be further work to do.

Some of the plans are already in motion. I'm going to have to figure out what my future self needs me to do.

Picking up the chess set, she took it to the library with her.

We had continued down the tunnel highway, dispatching stray vengeful spirits thanks to Youmu and the two mikos. It unnerved me to see those things, to know that they might have been human once, and all they became was malice incarnate. Funnily enough, they were more of a bother for youkai than for humans, supposedly. Since youkai are inherently paranormal creatures, a vengeful spirit could attach to them, eat away at their being, and create a new one in the old body. Which is what happened due to this incident. Not the whole creating new one things, but the 'among other things' that was mentioned was that some vengeful spirits had escaped out into Gensokyo after some of the seismic activity, attacking some youkai. Reimu and Star said they detected that weird person in the cloak, and we'd occasionally see that person every now and then, before they disappeared in the shadows.

Of course, we asked if that could be Parsee, but Yukari said she was pretty sure it was someone else, and of course, wouldn't tell us who. That being said, Youmu was pretty busy, keeping tabs on us (we were still getting bouts of envy) and making sure she got all the vengeful spirits before they could get to us. I'm glad I asked her to show up then.

During some down time, and in an attempt to get us back in a good mood, Reisen hung back a bit until she was on pace with Chiyuri. "So, uh, what kind of gun you got?" Chiyuri smiled, and brought it out, ejecting the magazine, and the chambered bullet, before handing it to the rabbit soldier. Reisen's eyes sparkled. "Ah, M1911." Reisen checked the chamber as well, before properly looking over the gun. "Chrome plating, .45 ACP, marksman sight, and walnut panel with finger groove rubber grip. Not bad."

"It's the best of both worlds," smiled Chiyuri. "The original 1911 had wooden grips, and this is an update."

"Nothing original about this gun. Looks like every part of it has been fine tuned or altered in a way to maximize efficiency. Slide, trigger, even the barrel looks different." Reisen bobbed the weapon in her hand. "Weights a little different too. Might as well just create your own gun instead of making it look like a 1911."

"1911 is a classic though."

"Can't argue with that. The standard design for the modern handgun."

"Why'd you check the gun twice?" asked Marisa. That was on my mind too, actually.

Reisen handed back Chiyuri's weapon, before raising an eyebrow at us. "Because that's what you do. You always check to see if the gun is loaded if you pick it up or handle it, even if someone already handles it in front of you. Otherwise you're asking for an accidental shooting." Reisen sped up to return to her original position behind Mokou. "It's gun safety. Guns are just tools - and if you're careless with any kind of tool, you'll only hurt yourself or others."

Chiyuri didn't let Reisen go, keeping pace with the rabbit. "So, what sniper rifle is that? I think I know what it is, but isn't that a rare gun? Only 176 were made, weren't there?"

Less than two hundred were made? What kind of gun is that?

Reisen proudly brought it out, making sure it was unloaded, before showing it to Chiyuri. "You're right. It is rare."

[Nitori:] "That's why she had us make it. Handed us the blueprints, and we made it like she wanted, and being able to shoot danmaku too."

As Reisen would proudly tell us, the gun... no, sorry. The rifle was a Walther WA 2000 bullpup sniper rifle. A bullpup is a full-powered gun in a more compact size. Sounds good, but they're more unwieldy, being less accurate due to higher recoil.

"Walnut paneling too. " Chiyuri happily checked it over. "And second gen design as well. More accurate than first gen, with the upgraded flash-hider and compensator." She handed the gun back to Reisen.

Reisen beamed, shouldering it. "You know your guns, which is kind of unusual for a Japanese civilian. Are you a gun nut or something?"

Chiyuri shook her head. "No, it's just that I can appreciate anything engineered. Just too bad that the WA 2000 was just too costly to make and was discontinued."

I really had no idea what they were talking about. Guns were obviously not my cup of tea.

"...How do you become a sniper?"

Reisen had one of the most minuscule smiles I've ever seen cracked on her face. "Well I guess it's like how it is here on Earth. You go through basic like everyone else, and if you have a proficiency in something, they single you out and try to enhance it. And if you do even better, they cherry pick you for certain things." Reisen returned her attention to the tunnel, making sure that Mokou wasn't alone in the front. "Me... as my instructor put it, I had a knack for putting bullets into skulls. Turned out to be great at it, in fact."

[Aya:] "So why are you just a Sergeant? Don't Special Forces take higher ranks or something?"

[Eirin:] "Reisen is too nice a person to be that ruthless a killing machine, in my opinion."

So I guess she's happy with getting medicine to the villagers then.

The rabbit giggled. "And that was the opinion of my higher ups as well, Master."

"I wonder why some of us got hit by that," pondered Tenshi. "And some of us didn't."

Ah, the celestial was back on the change in our behavior. I don't think anybody really wanted to talk about it, but we had to. Reisen's good mood disappeared.

"Weren't you envious of our lives, ze? Why weren't you hit hard?"

"Because I'm over it." Tenshi glanced back at us, with a smug grin. "I got what I wanted, and sated my envy in the summer."

What you got was a pure beating by the end of things, you masochist.

Youmu just shrugged. "Well, I don't have anything to be jealous or envious of."

Sakuya gave Youmu an 'Are you serious' look. "You work harder than all of us."

Youmu again shrugged. "But I get to do that for and be with the person I love. What more can I ask for?"

Can't really ask for more. You live in a beautiful realm, and work for the person you love to make it beautiful. That's got to be satisfying. I could only hope I could find happiness in working to provide for the person I love.

I'll be honest, I found a lot of the Brigade work to be a bother. At least Haruhi has gotten more tolerable, as well as Brigade chores.

"Yeah, that looks promising." Mokou had stopped up ahead, as the tunnel had ended, opening up into a massive cavern with a chasm - so big, we couldn't see the ceiling, nor the bottom. We stood on an overlook, well... overlooking a bridge that spanned across that chasm of darkness. It was a wooden bridge that was big enough to have four cars driving side by side.

"So, let me guess. That's the the way to Hell proper?"

[Suika]: "Got that right. Just gotta cross the bridge, and you'll be able to enter the underground realm. If I were you, I wouldn't fly over the gap - flight is disabled over that thing, and it's a long way down. So you do have to take the bridge."

"Flight is disabled?" Please tell me that's made up.

[Suika:] "Sorry. Different realm, different rules."

So we can't just skip this fight. We're gonna have to cross this bridge and deal with Parsee.

Reisen slowly shook her head, sighing in concern, as she checked out the bridge with her sniper scope. "Well, not much cover on that thing. Hell, no cover at all. We step foot on that, we're open to any attacks. Not to mention we won't be able to fly away if we get overwhelmed."

[Patchouli]: "Well what do you want, someone to drop down cover for you? The world just doesn't have chest-high walls all around the place for you to hide behind, you know."

I'd be helpful, but it's not realistic.

"I know that Miss Patchouli, but it's just that we're screwed if we get attacked on the bridge."

[Yukari]: "You should be still able to fly over the bridge itself. You just won't have that much room to maneuver. However, those of you who can physically fly, like the fairies - I don't think the flight disabling would work on you."

Reisen muttered something as she put away her scope. "Sonova... I just don't like this. It's a bottleneck - a freaking kill zone. Any kind of trap set up will get us."

Yeah, I didn't like this either. What Reisen pointed out was obvious, and it did not carry in our favor. "Is there any other way?"

[Suika:] "Sorry. The opening to the underground realm is across the bridge. There are others, but it'll take you guys hours to get to them, even if you flew."

And we don't have hours. This is going to happen today.

Koizumi gave the rabbit a smile. "Come on, Miss Udongein. Be positive."

"You be positive; I'm being tactical. I just don't like this at all. I can't see anyone, but I can hear someone." Her ears had perked up. "Someone is breathing over there, and I can't see them. They're hiding, lying in wait for us."

Parsee...

The fairies came into view again. "Yeah, I sense her too." Star titled her head, confused. "I just can't pinpoint her. But she is on the other side of the bridge."

"I don't like this at all, guys." said Luna, obviously off put by the situation. "She's gonna attack when we're on the bridge, isn't she?"

Sakuya slowly shook her head, sighing. "We're going to have to walk into an obvious ambush. This is not going to end well."

"Ugh." Sanae stepped closer to the bridge, looking like she was disgusted. "Can you feel that? It's just pure misery."

"Yeah..." Reimu looked over the situation, and stared at the overlook for a moment. "Okay, Reisen, set up here." She pointed at the ground with her gohei. "The rest of us go on the bridge, spread out. Don't cluster. Try to let Reisen snipe the youkai, okay?"

Hey, that sounds like a great plan to me.

Reisen laid down on her belly at the edge of the overlook, setting up her sniper rifle, when I heard Kaguya chuckle.

[Kaguya:] "Oh, Reisen, I still don't know how you made it as a sniper."

Reisen got this heavy blush, and I didn't know what they were talking about, until Marisa pointed it out. "She's got, uh, two things going against her when she lays down like that, ze."

It didn't take me long to realize what Marisa meant by that. Already over the radio some of the girls were chuckling too, as well as some of us present. I know I did.

Reisen's blush went redder. "Sure, lying prone is a problem sometimes, but I manage." She looked down the scope. "It's too dark. You'll have to set up the glow sticks so I can see her." Reisen then looked up to us. "Oh, right. Take the flash bangs - the note said you'll need them."

I'm not comfortable with handling grenades, Reisen. I'm just a college kid. I think she understood my feeling on the matter, as she gave a slight nod.

"It's okay. These emit a bright light and a loud sound, as well as a concussive blast, but as long as you're out of its range, you should be okay, save for going temporarily blind and deaf."

"Out of it's range?"

"It's still a grenade, and has a concussive blast. Just be ten meters away from it when it goes off, and you shouldn't get hurt."

"Kyon." After Sanae got my attention, she gave a nod. "Remember the Biohazard remake? Chris's self defense weapon?"

Right. He used flash bangs on zombies, sticking them in their mouths. It blew off their heads, and if you were close, you'd get damaged too. Instantly killed the zombies, suffice to say. Also useful against the last boss, as Chris would actually use them as they were intended to be used if he got grabbed, leaving the last boss open to attack after they got stunned.

"You talk about outside world stuff when he's around, ze." Marisa was eyeing Sanae. "You never say anything about it with any of us. Games, manga, your life before coming here, whatever, you just...don't. Just with him."

Sanae shrugged. "You wouldn't understand, would you? I just don't talk about that because it would just go over your head completely."

Marisa opened her mouth to say something, before thinking it over. "Well, yeah, I guess that makes sense." Marisa returned her attention to the bridge. "Still, it all seems interesting."

It seems that Sanae doesn't talk about herself or any part of the outside world with anyone in Gensokyo, which was the case. I mean, I guess I can see it - she's not dwelling on the past all too much. She's living here, and living for Gensokyo now.

So, okay. Flash bangs. Stun grenades. Whatever you want to call them. I never handled a grenade before, and yet there I was. Just pull the pin, throw, and don't be where it explodes, right? Man... what am I doing even holding one of these?! Since when does a normal college kid get to handle tactical weaponry? I haven't even had any kind of training. No, trust in Asahina. She sent these for us, so they'll be useful. I just had to be careful enough not to have them blow up in my hand. Man, I hope I don't drop this thing. I don't need it to go off when I'm near it. All in all, there were eight, total. Reisen handed them out, giving me one, Koizumi one, Chiyuri, Sakuya, Mokou, Reimu, Sanae, and Youmu as well.

"Also, don't look at it. It's designed to blind, okay?" Reisen kept looking down the scope as she spoke.

[Nitori:] "All right, guys, be careful. You're walking into a trap, so stay sharp."

I silently cursed as we went down the path to the bridge itself. Mokou began dropping glow sticks, giving us a view of the bridge. For a massive wooden bridge, it looked well maintained. I guess a hashihime would take care of its bridge.

"Uhm...you see that? Wind's moving from the bottom." Reisen loudly spoke as we got on it. I could feel some sort of soft, warm air come from underneath the bridge. "Ah...yeah. Fair amount of updraft. Gotta compensate for that. Konpaku - Ribbon on your hair... Okay, compensating for that wind, and I think moisture... Got some sort of wind going left to right across the bridge. Up and to the right..." I looked back, and saw her doing something to the sniper rifle, I guess compensating the shot for the air. "Bullet drop won't be much of a factor, but there'll be enough against a precise shot if she's far enough."

Reimu looked over the side, the air moving her hair around. "Why is there wind down here?"

[Suika:] "Pressure from deep within the Earth seeps out through here. Remember where you're going - it's going to be hot."

I could feel my heart beating in my chest as we tentatively walked on the bridge. I looked over the side, and the empty void below us made me shiver. Okay, don't look down. Also, the 'wind', if you could call it that, was pretty strong. Hot, even with my heat protection, and I could definitely feel the moisture. "That's right... Youkai Mountain is a volcano, isn't it?" Well, it was supposed to be, even though it hasn't erupted in quite some time. Just expels smoke, according to the reports. "All that heat down there needs to vent, otherwise it'll blow, like sealing off a boiling teapot."

"Interesting analogy," remarked Reimu. I merely shrugged.

Mokou wanted to test the 'no-flight' thing, slowly flying over the railing. She immediately dropped, with Koizumi catching her. "Damn, man!" Mokou was wide eyed as she stared down. "They weren't kidding!"

Don't do that again, please! I don't want to see anybody drop down into the darkness! So, no escaping over the sides. We were in a bottleneck for Parsee. She's going to have complete advantage here, isn't she? This is her bridge, set up to how she wants to defend it. This was just bad all around.

"Man it's a wide chasm. Almost as wide as-"

"One more insult and I swear I'm putting a bullet in your head," said Reisen rather coldly from her perch. "And no, that's not any 'jealousy' talking."

Mokou shot a look back at the soldier, and I guess she knew the rabbit was serious, because the immortal didn't say anything else.

Like I said, cool it with the Kaguya-bashing.

[Kaguya:] "Thank you, Reisen."

"How far down are we, ze?" Marisa wiped her brow, looking up as we neared the halfway point. "How many more floors?"

[Alice:] "...There aren't any 'floors' in a cave."

"Really?" Sanae chuckled. "I thought places like dungeons always had floors."

"This ain't exactly a dungeon, Sanae," I groaned.

"You're now on floor B666."

Son of a bitch. We all tensed, as we didn't know where that voice came from.

[Suika:] "Crap! That's her!"

Dammit dammit dammit. I got behind Marisa, swinging the flashlight around the open space in front of us. Where is she?!

The voice spoke again. "Welcome to the end of the underground skyscraper. And the end of the line for you." There was an underlying snarkiness to the voice, and it was dripping with resentment. She had way more disdain than any time Seija spoke to me about something she disliked.

Mokou was more liberal with her glow stick tossing, even launching them in front of us. But neither the sticks nor the flashlights were picking up anything.

I looked back to the overlook. Reisen, you'd better have a shot, or see her somehow.

"Is this boss time?" asked Sanae, with a slight grin. "Because this definitely would be a perfect place for a boss battle."

"I wouldn't recommend that you treat going underground like a game. You might be trying to get experience points, but you'll just be wasting time in the end."

Wait a second. The hashihime is making video game references? They have video games down here? I looked to Sanae and Koizumi, and they were as shocked as I was over that.

"When the hell does a youkai make time for video games?" mumbled Chiyuri.

"I make time," responded Tenshi.

Of course you would, bored rich girl. Wait, she gets games in Heaven too? I let that slip my mind at that point.

"We know it's you, hashihime!" Reimu angrily looked around. "Where are you?!"

There was a slight pause, before the voice spoke. "I suppose I could drop the theatrics, even though it wouldn't be any fun."

"You had your fun already." At our expense, mind you. These girls are gonna make you pay for that.

"True. I detected you all a long ways away, but you found a way to resist my influences. Speaking of which, did you all get lost and end up here by mistake? Please, take my advice. It's better for you to just go back the way you came, back to where the light is so dazzling."

[Eirin:] "Reisen, please tell me you can see her..."

Where is this youkai? I was getting more nervous by the second. She's effective at putting fear, I'll give her that. You know, despite the attitude you could hear in her voice. That made me angrier.

"We've come prepared," yelled Sakuya, "In case you haven't noticed!" The maid was ready to go, with her knives out.

"...I suppose that's true. Don't say I didn't warn you. You're not prepared, neither for me, or what is beyond me, humans. But that does bring up a good question. What do humans want with the former capital?"

"Former?"

Parsee didn't let us dwell on that for too long. "Does it have to do with the earthquakes? If you came down here to see about that, then you don't know anything about the earthquakes."

"Not necessarily." Youmu just calmly had her hand on her sheathed katana, ready to draw. "We've got that under control."

"Are you coming to look for our cursed power?"

"We told ya to drop the damn theatrics!" Mokou's arms lit up, her frustration showing. "Show yourself!"

"I am envious. Envious of the light above ground. I'm envious of the gentle breezes. I don't have anything against you, but I can make up lots of reasons to attack you."

"You've given us enough reasons to attack you!" Koizumi was in his esper ball already. "You tried to pry us apart!"

"Yes. Yes, and it felt so good for me. I see you all together, working together... and I'm so envious..."

We get it. You're a hashihime.

"But I can taste such deep envy, such deep-rooted envy in one of you. I wanted her closer, so I could taste it for myself, so I could properly draw it out."

That made my blood run cold. I looked around, unsure of what that meant. Already those of us who had been whammied. Who? Who-

I noticed that Marisa was no longer right in front of me. Sometime in all of that, she had gone ahead of us, and was standing by herself in the middle of the bridge. Instantly, dread filled the pit of my stomach, and I knew the others realized it as well.

You? But what... how?

I shone my light on her face-

Her eyes were bright green.

Oh no...

"Isn't that right... witch?"

Marisa, don't do this!

[Alice:] "Marisa?!"

Youmu rushed right for Marisa, but the witch had already hopped onto her broom, and backed away from us, further up the bridge. The pure hatred Marisa had on her face looked too unnatural for such a happy person. Marisa, what do you have to be envious of?

For a second, I though Reisen would shoot at Marisa, but the rabbit didn't fire. She must have seen the coloring too.

[SPELL CARD: LOVE SIGN "MACHINE GUN SPARK"]

Ah dammit!

Marisa opened up on us. We didn't have much room to maneuver, so I did what I had to do - I stood my ground with Shanghai and Hourai. I jumped in front of everyone, the doll shield raised up, and took the brunt of the spell card. Alice, thank you for upgrading them! Placing my hands on the two dolls, I pushed forward, and we moved closer to Marisa.

[Yukari:] "Don't stop! Get close enough so that you can get Youmu to wake her up!"

I was silently pleading for Marisa to wake up from her envy-fueled rage, and it was tough for me to even look at her in that state. I began to feel anger myself, but towards the youkai doing this. Several seconds into the push, the dolls began to show fatigue. We were close enough, and I shouted out to Reimu - "This close enough for a teleport?"

The miko nodded, grabbing onto Youmu, and teleporting right behind the witch. Marisa swung around, bringing the firing hakkero to meet the two of them, but Youmu was too close. She stuck the Hakurouken into the witch, and the green glow faded, although very slowly. Maybe Parsee was right - whatever envy was in Marisa had to be deep. Marisa gasped, placing her hand over where she was 'stabbed', and as the anger disappeared, immediate guilt washed over her. After Youmu removed the sword, the gardener and the miko were on both sides of the witch holding onto her, as she was getting ready to fall to the bridge.

"Oh God. Oh God, ze..." Marisa looked up to Reimu. "I'm so sor-"

A green shot hit Marisa, knocking her far behind us, almost all the way to where Reisen was. Marisa! I looked back to where she landed, wanting to go to her, until I heard the footsteps, and blind rage overtook me. I whipped around to the noise, and there she was - the hashihime.

Wavy shoulder-length blonde hair, green eyes. Of course she would have green eyes. She was also wearing some weird dress. I dare say, Iranian? Persian? It looked middle eastern for some reason. I'd later learn it was based off of Iranian nomadic tribes dresses. As to why... Parsee was a weird youkai, so who knows why she dresses that way. She certainly wasn't middle eastern herself - she was obviously Japanese. Anyways, the dress was a brown shirt with purple borders (with a criss-crossing white design on the purple) and a pink sash. Her dress was blue with the same purple and white criss-cross trim. Parsee fingered the pink scarf she had, as she stared at us. I could feel the resentment she had for all of us, as her face just read pure disdain.

"Oh, what a pity. I couldn't bring out the true form of that witch's envy." Parsee sneered at us. "How typical for people to ruin my fun." A slight smile crept on her face, as she stopped playing with her scarf, and put her finger on her tongue, as if she was relishing it. Parsee's eyes glowed bright green. "Still... her envy was so delicious!"

I am going to knock you out for-

She used a spell card, as everyone had opened fire on her.

That woke me out of my anger, as I realized I was on my own. Marisa was down, and the dolls were tired. Neither Youmu nor Tenshi were near me. Ah, dammit!

[SPELL CARD: ENVY "GREEN-EYED INVISIBLE MONSTER"]

Green balls of danmaku formed, going right for Youmu and Reimu, as they were closer. The balls formed, and formed... And they kept going. And going.

[Aya:] "It's a chaser!"

The worst part is that they weren't disappearing. The balls chased after Reimu and Youmu, and when they reached the rest of us, they split off, going after everybody. With the limited room, and the fact that they shots weren't disappearing, it was obvious that this wasn't in our favor. Dammit, she's trying to make us run into one of the other shots! We were being backed up to where Marisa was.

[SPELL CARD: TIME SIGN "PRIVATE SQUARE"]

Thank you, Sakuya! The barrier erected by the maid ate up the chasers, allowing us breathing room.

Parsee kept staring at us, unamused by this. Reisen was already opening fire, but the hashihime casually dodged the shots. She looked annoyed by the sniper fire instead of afraid. "Huh. You have a friend up there." The hashihime then made the chasers go over the bridge's side, straight for Reisen.

"No you don't!" shouted Tenshi.

[SPELL CARD: KEYSTONE "HEAVEN'S ROCK"]

Tenshi's keystone turret. It went right for Parsee, who stared at it with mild interest. When it fired, the hashihime moved with surprising speed, easily dodging the lasers. It had to be effective, as Parsee ended her card and just dodged.

"You don't understand. By me preventing you from continuing, I'm saving your lives. You're just too stubborn to heed my warning."

None of us were in the mood to listen to what she was saying.

[SPELL CARD: ENLIGHTENING SWORD "RISE FROM DELUSION SLASH"]

While Parsee was busy, Youmu moved up as well, dodging the spread lasers from the keystone, and used her sword extender, catching Parsee. While Parsee tried to move away, the oni belt drew her closer to Youmu. The hashihime got knocked back from the hit, and wound up taking a few lasers too. She landed on her feet, gritting her teeth, showing further contempt for us.

"You don't understand, you ignorant people. I'm doing my job. I'm protecting this bridge!"

Parsee opened with a collapsing spread shot. They like to use this tactic underground? It forced Youmu to back off, giving the hashihime breathing room of her own. Reisen couldn't hit her with any shots, so the rabbit had joined us on the bridge, looking upset. She had the camera out, and was trying to lessen the amount of danmaku on the field with it.

Reimu looked to me, waving me to go back the way we came. "Go! Get Marisa back up, and wait! We'll deal with her!"

I wanted to stay, but without Marisa's mobility, nor the full use of the doll's powers, I guess I was kind of dead weight, especially since Tenshi was currently using the sword. Sanae covered me with her stealth shield as I ran back to the witch bringing out another vial, when-

[SPELL CARD: GRANDPA HANASAKA "SHIRO'S ASHES"]

Parsee began firing spread shots of six two meter big balls of danmaku (yes, green), but that wasn't what made this spell card bad. What was bad is that it left danmaku flowers on the trail, and they stayed. And she kept adding more and more. You like leaving danmaku bullets, don't you? It was frustrating, as she was taking up the small amount of room that was afforded to us to move around. Yukari wasn't lying about Parsee being tough!

I had reached the end of the bridge, sliding to a stop at Marisa. Healing her, I brought her to a sitting position. "Hey, hey, you're fine now."

Marisa wasn't happy. When she woke up, she stared at me for a few seconds, before looking depressed. "...Ah... I'm..."

I shook my head. "Forget it. Whatever it was, you were being-"

"I wasn't being controlled, ze." Marisa hung her head. "I just..."

I shot a glance to the girls - they were barely hanging in there - already they were getting heavily grazed. Parsee leaving the shots on the field was turning out to be very tricky to handle in a small area. Hang in there, girls. "You don't have to say anything, or apologize."

Marisa stared at them, fighting, or trying to stay up in the fight. "Look at them. Everyone has special abilities, even you." I looked down to her, her lips quivering. "Even you have something, an ability. Me? I have to work so hard to keep up with them, ze, and they just have their abilities."

...That's it? I know I've gone over Marisa being a normal human, but was that really it?

Then again, it's been pretty tough for her this year. Being beaten by Cirno in a fight might do that to someone, and the fact that Marisa had to witness the power of Reimu's youkai form first hand, knowing that she's nowhere near that level.

Truth be told, I think Marisa had a legitimate case to be frustrated and envious. She probably works harder for her magic capabilities than everyone else here, and she isn't the best. All that hard work, and she ends up being second to Reimu's incident resolving status. Even I surpassed her, in a way. Even I ended up with abilities in a sense.

This isn't the time for this. As blunt and uncaring as that sounded, it was true. I reached down and got her to her feet, noticing that she wouldn't look at me. "You're fine, okay?"

"No, I'm-" Her eyes widened from what was coming behind me.

There was a glow of green radiating and getting stronger, and when I looked, there was a stray danmaku shot coming right for my face-

The green was replaced with blue. I blinked, before realizing that it was blue cloth, and who it was. The Stranger?! Whoever it was, she was close to me - and yes, I could tell they were female. About the size of a woman, and I couldn't see any distinguishing features from behind her. She had her right arm extended - what she had done was physically knock away the shot. You can do that? Well, she could crush spirits with her hands. The only thing from her cloak that I could see of her was her hand wrapped in bandages, I'm guessing for concealment. She turned to us, and the cloak didn't allow for any other features to be seen, other than the lower half of her face and the bottom bangs of her short pink hair. Other than the blue cloak, I couldn't see what she was wearing or what she looked like. Her mouth gave a slight grimace of annoyance at us, I guess because she had to save us.

Grabbing Marisa, I took her to the side where there was less danmaku being fired at. Despite what just happened, I still had to get Marisa back into the fight, the Stranger following us so they could block shots. "Everybody has their grievances. I mean, I know what I said to Koizumi, but do I really feel that way? No. Not really. She just amplified those feelings." I was winging it there. What else could I do but comfort her?

"Kyon-"

I didn't give her a chance to counter me. "You're fine, okay?" I didn't want her to become depressed or anything. I looked back to the fight - some of the girls had used spell cards, but since I was busy with Marisa and the sudden appearance of the Stranger, I didn't know which. Parsee had gone back to spread shots, already ending her own card long ago. This damn bridge is really working against us. If Tenshi really wanted to take us down, all she'd have to do was confine us in a small space, not that open field in Heaven.

Oh right. I gave the Stranger a slight bow, thanking her. Her head merely nodded, before she returned her attention to the fight. Not gonna talk, eh? All right. Play the part of the Mysterious Stranger.

[SPELL CARD: MALICE SIGN "MIDNIGHT ANATHEMA RITUAL - DAY 7"]

Parsee began shooting out seven streams of danmaku bullets, and when they made contact with a surface, they flew back out as bright orbs.

"Ricochet!" shouted out Sanae.

[Yukari:] "She's changed up her spell card order!"

Great, that's just what we needed. Damn timeline changes.

Of course, in such a small space, bouncing shots were a nightmare. I watched as Sakuya would dodge one shot, only to be smacked by another that had bounced from the other railing. That was it - she was easily overwhelmed after that. Mokou took a few shots that had bounced around, but still remained on her feet.

"The hell is all this, man? Can't even move around..."

I grunted in frustration, watching Parsee shrug off the shots everyone was giving to her, even the homing shots. Stupid hashihime! Getting all of us riled up against each other, and you don't even have the decency to go down after getting hit!

Whoever the Stranger was, she was knocking away stray danmaku with her bandaged arm - the only thing that she was letting out of the cloak. Don't you need a weapon to do that? I mean, if danmaku hits your bare body, it does its knockout thing. Why are you immune to it?

Well, whatever. Not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. She was allowing Shanghai to recharge after all. The Stranger would stay near me for the rest of the fight, knocking away shots with the bandaged hand. A thought crossed my mind - is this a mummy? No, couldn't be. I saw part of her face and it wasn't bandaged up. I wonder how a mummy girl would do in Gensokyo...

Not the time to think of this stuff, man. Focus or get knocked out.

Reisen went over to Sakuya, picking up the flashbang from the fallen maid. She bit into the ring, pulled it out, and tossed it at Parsee. Right, don't look! I turned my head, but a bright light still lit up the cavern, along a loud pop. Parsee's card ended, and when I looked again, the hashihime was covering up her eyes, stumbling about. Thing is, even the girls weren't prepared for the flashbang - they were stunned by it too.

I looked to Marisa. "You want to get back at her? Now's the time!"

Marisa stared at the scene in front of her, and determination washed over her face. She gave me a nod, and I hopped on her broom, as we rode into the battle.

Thing is, Parsee recovered quickly.

[SPELL CARD: TONGUE-CUT SPARROW "LARGE BOX AND SMALL BOX"]

I don't think Mystia would appreciate the name of this one. Parsee went up into the air, and there was a puff of smoke. Two Parsees then went side by side, shooting danmaku. One was shooting those large two meter balls, while the other was shooting many small spread shots.

...Shoot! The note! I yelled out at them. "Don't shoot the fake one!"

The one shooting the larger balls took a hit, and 'blinked' in and out of existence, before exploding into danmaku. Shell game! It's a shell game! Hitting the wrong one causes a penalty! Koizumi was the first to go down, getting caught in the blast of the wrong Parsee. Dammit! What Koizumi had done, was finally use one of his dolls. He brought one out, cranked some sort of mechanism on the back of it, and tossed it at the hashihime - however, since it exploded, it was what caught the fake one. Koizumi paid for that.

Another new Parsee appeared, emerging from the real one, so you didn't know which was which. Both floated there, staring at us, and both spoke. "I'm saving your lives, actually. Stopping all of you here is going to save your lives. If you get past me, you're only going to die."

Nobody was firing, as we were waiting for the reveal as to which Parsee was the real one. The two of them opened fire, the one on the right being the fake one. Everyone shot at the one on the left.

Then the fake one dashed in front of the real one.

Oh come on!

The Parsee that wasn't hit backed up, while the one that was had its eyes glow green. It didn't go down, but it charged right at Chiyuri. Chiyuri was firing her gun at it - but this thing was shrugging it off. When it got close enough, the light from the eyes intensified, and then-

It exploded into danmaku. Chiyuri was too close, and she didn't have a chance to dodge. Weren't you supposed to be one of the strongest espers or something?! Well, if danmaku can down a god, it can down a strong esper.

[Yukari:] "She's not supposed to be able to do that!"

Damn man, she just suicide bombed! And what do you mean she's not supposed to do that?!

[Yukari:] "It's one of Parsee's attacks - she makes a danmaku familiar of herself, but it was supposed to only shoot danmaku if shot. It wasn't supposed to kamikaze!"

The worst part was that the camera was doing nothing against those familiars. We looked back, and there were now three Parsees. They began to smile as they flew around each other, making sure we didn't know which was the real one.

[Suika:] "Jeez, Parsee, when did you get this powerful?!"

Crap. She's playing a shell game with us. Yeah, hit either wrong one, and you get knocked out. The three of them opened fire, with the real one being in the middle...I think. She had to be - Any attempt from us to shoot at that particular Parsee was met with one of the fakes intercepting the shot, and therefore taking another one of us down. Youmu went down next, and she desperately tried to defend herself when the fakes neared - but it still exploded on her when she struck it with her sword. Mokou, who was close, didn't move, and I didn't understand what she was doing until she began to hold her head, the green in her eyes shining. It wasn't as bright as the others, but it held her in place to get caught in the blast of the fakes. The immortal was trying to fight Parsees effect. Four Parsees were up for this next round.

[Nitori:] "If anyone has a plan, I want to hear it now!"

What are we gonna do? She's just goading us into attacking her familiars! The four of them began to fire at us.

Reimu teleported near the Parsees, and one of the fakes flew in front of the real one, covering her. The miko kept teleporting, trying to get a clean shot, but the fakes just kept covering. Reimu teleported back to us, frustrated. "Irritating youkai!"

[Kaguya:] "Somebody has got to have a plan!"

Cirno had angrily appeared, spell card out. "Fine! If Eye have to do everything around here..."

Chances are, you just might make this worse.

[SPELL CARD: PERFECT FREEZE]

It froze over the familiars, and stopped the danmaku, yes, but then the familiars blinked out of their ice encasing, and went right for us. Cirno's shoulders sagged upon seeing that, realizing what was going to happen. "...Oh."

I knew you were going to make it worse!

[SPELL CARD: "DOUBLE SPARK"]

A large pair of lasers just barreled through, and while we weren't hit, the force of the lasers passing by knocked all of us to the ground. What it did hit, were the fakes; eradicating the Parsee doubles and knocking the real Parsee back. When the light died down, Parsee was shaking it off, as it had stunned her. It wasn't long before Parsee was glaring at the direction the Spark came from.

I could hear the heavy footsteps from behind us, but I didn't care - I got Reimu and Marisa back up before I could really process what had happened. Getting those two up, I began to realize it, the sparks. It wasn't just a spark of light, but mixed in with darkness as well. Don't tell me...

"Somebody ruined my land. Somebody caused a geyser to appear on my property. It... ruined the fertility of a good chunk of it. There won't be as many flowers now."

There was only one person who could be that ticked off about their flowers being ruined. I stared back at her, the tall green-haired women in the red plaid.

"Whoa," remarked Tenshi, wide-eyed. "I've always wanted to meet you..."

"So." Yuka Kazami stood there, tapping her umbrella into her hand, again, like she was going to beat someone to death with it while she ignored Tenshi. Kazami had some sort of perverse smile. "Somebody is going to die today." Yuka aimed her umbrella at Parsee. "Will it be you?"

"Why not?" Mima came from behind Kazami, clutching her crescent moon wand with a smirk. "After all, I think that a hashihime would be a wonderful target for the three of us to bring out the true power of the spark."

You're here too?

Parsee said nothing, just sent out two more doubles to go after the flower master. Yuka shot at them, activating their self-destruct mode. Yuka just blasted it, destroying the familiar before it got too close. The second one actually made it, and exploded on her.

Kazami just shrugged it off after blocking the majority of the explosion with her open parasol.

[Alice:] "Okay, that's a plan. Just tank through it."

[Suika:] "Works for me!"

I'll take it. Shoot, if I had one of the most powerful and feared youkai on my side, I'll take it. Kazami slowly made her way forward, as we retreated back to her, avoiding the shots Parsee threw our way. Yuka and Mima were obliterating the doubles of Parsee, causing the hashihime to get frustrated.

"They're not supposed to go down so easily! What are you two?!"

They're on our side. That's what. We reached the two of them, and I gave Yuka smile. "It is so good to see you!"

Kazami kept her eyes on Parsee, her face focused on her target. "Of course it is, human. We got Yukari's message to join up, and, well..." Yuka grimaced. "Like I said, one of those geysers ripped open my land."

I totally understand. Your home got threatened. I noticed that Reimu and Mima were exchanging glares.

"I was wondering where you went off to. You weren't in the field."

Mima just smirked. "I decided that I wasn't going to wait for you."

"Uh, girls?" Reisen took a shot with the camera, and then began knocking on it, as a loud whirring could be heard from within it. "Kinda in the middle of a fight here."

Mima and Reimu glared at each other for another moment, before the ghost turned to Marisa. "So. Marisa."

The witch gave a slight bow. "Lady Mima."

The ghost smiled. "I trust you still have your third of the spell card?"

Third?

Marisa's face began to beam, as she suddenly went back to her cheerful self. "Oh... Oh Lady Mima... It's been so long!" Marisa brought out a part of a spell card. "Of course I've kept it on me!"

I realized what they were going to do. I actually get to see it?! That Double Spark was massive! What's-

Mima nodded to Yuka as the ghost produced her own piece of a card. "Miss Kazami?"

"Ready when you are!" While holding onto the open parasol with one hand, she brought out the final piece with the other.

"I think she has some sort of barrier or something up," said Reimu. "She was even able to withstand a demotivator!"

That's what I missed when I was tending with Marisa? Good thing, I guess. I would have lost a lot of morale after seeing that.

I thought and thought, wondering how we'd be able to get through to Parsee.

"The flash bangs!" Tenshi brought out one, her finger on the pin. "It made her pause and caused her to end her spell card!"

"Reisen!" shouted Reimu.

"Got it!"

[SPELL CARD: DESOLATION "DISCARDER"]

Reisen produced her most powerful demotivator, and loaded it into the sniper rifle. Tenshi pulled the pin on her flash bang, and launched it at the hashihime. When it went off, the doubles stopped, and Parsee covered her eyes.

[Eirin:] "Reisen! Now!"

The soldier lined up her shot in less than a second, and that's all she needed. The bullet hit, causing Parsee to pause, grunting. It was the opening we needed. Marisa, Mima, and Yuka lined up, side by side, reading their parts of their cards. Yuka's parasol, Mima's wand, and Marisa's hakkero lit up, getting brighter and brighter.

Sanae began ushering us away. "Clear out!"

I moved, still watching those three, and I wanted to see it.

[SPELL CARD: TRINITY SPARK]

It did not disappoint. The attack that got them through most of the Makai incident, up until they faced off against a god. This laser managed to light up the entire chasm, and I could see how massive it was. It actually gave me vertigo. As for the attack, it connected with Parsee dead on, and she disappeared into the light. She screamed for a second before being silenced.

The laser went on and on, before being ended early by the three of them. It goes on even longer?! I was left breathless after that. I mean, I had thought when Yuka fired her laser inside Yuyuko's house, it was impressive. I had thought that the Final Master Spark was impressive. The Twilight Spark? I think you know where I'mgoing with that. But this? This? No words, other than awe-inspiring.

The hype about the Trinity Spark did not disappoint. This thing was just massive. Big enough to fill a freeway lane going both ways, and probably still spill out.

The fairies had gotten out of their stealth field, wide eyed. They were rendered speechless at what they had just seen.

Tenshi just stared at what happened, jaw agape. "...I should have gotten Kazami and Mima more involved. That would have been amazing in our fight!"

Masochist.

Parsee was all the way on the far end of the bridge, not moving. I couldn't knock you out, but that Trinity Spark is our revenge on you. Suck on that. Such a miserable youkai deserved this anyway.

Marisa was panting after that, a look of elation on her face. "Man, it has been far too long! Far too long!" She pumped her fist, as she was full of energy again. "I've forgotten how awesome it was to do that, ze!"

Mima chuckled, amused by her apprentice's reaction. "Glad to see that your love for the more explosive side of magic hasn't waned."

Kazami stood there, taking in a deep breath, looking content. "Ah, the thrill of battle. It's always a joy." The youkai slowly closed her parasol, and turned to Reimu. "Hakurei."

Reimu gave a nod. "Kazami."

"Taking on the Goddess of Makai, and taking on the Yama... those two events got my blood boiling. It seems like I am fated to be at your side again."

Reimu smirked. "Yeah, it seems. Not complaining about it."

[Yukari:] "Your help is always appreciated, Kazami."

[Aya:] "Few people can go into battle like you do. Just wade in and start tearing people up."

[Patchouli:] "Yes, there are times when the direct approach is the best option."

Yeah I'll say. Yuka's like a literal tank character. She's slow, but powerful and can shrug off damage, even danmaku. And she was able to take it to Flandre, too.

During all of that, I was busy getting everyone who was downed back up. Sakuya sat there, angry with herself after seeing the outcome. "I'm getting knocked out too early in these fights."

"Hey, we won." I helped her to her feet. "Take the victory."

"I'm not doing anybody any good knocked out."

"Hey, if I get knocked out and still win, I'd call that a victory."

Sakuya muttered something, before looking around. "Where's the hashihime?" She brought out her knives, as she got angry. "I feel like making her suffer."

Reimu was already over there, slapping another one of those amulets to hold the youkai in place. Soon, we were across the bridge. Against the wall, at the end of the road, was a dark tunnel that even our lights didn't shine into.

[Suika:] "That's the border. The actual entrance to the underground realm."

Basically, the underground realm was its own closed space, and this was the main way to get into it. I stared into the darkness, unnerved by it, before returning my attention to the hashihime. She had woken up already, and instead of her contemptible attitude, she was afraid. Parsee was at our mercy.

"Now what should we do with her?" asked Reimu, looking around. She was smiling, satisfied that she had this youkai who affected her at her feet.

As much as I, or anyone else despised this youkai, we weren't going to do anything to her. She took a Trinity Spark after all, so that was punishment enough. Also, it was silently agreed between us all that she should be made to think about what we could do to her. You know, make her stew in her own thoughts for a bit.

"I was trying to stop you guys." Parsee glanced back and forth between us all, her eyes pleading. "Just.." She struggled against the chains. You're not going to survive if I gave you trouble."

"Is that a fact?" asked Sanae.

"I was keeping you away from how bad it is in there! You don't understand! Four years ago, after that oni drunkard left... things down here changed. I don't know what it is, but it causes that static in their eyes. They become feral, and either kill you or turn you. I've had to get stronger, you see. Not to keep people out. But to keep those things in."

I looked to the others, and they were wide eyed as well.

The way Reisen had static in her eyes, Tewi, the Princess. Taken over by Suou. Reisen almost being forced to kill herself when she couldn't take us down. Kaguya casting all those spells at us.

[Eirin:] "Excuse me?"

[Kaguya:] "Four years ago..."

[Alice:] "Are you trying to say that Suou is involved again?!"

Reisen brought out her gun, and aimed it right at Parsee. "No..." The soldier began to shake, as if she was reliving a trauma in her own mind. "No, you're lying. That crap can't be happening again!"

Parsee shook her head. "I'm not lying. I've been sufficient enough to keep hordes of the Altered at bay - but if you were downed by me, you might want to reconsider going any further."

"The Altered?"

"It's what we've been calling them. Not original, but then again I didn't come up with the term. I've been keeping down here proper. Keeping them from your world." Parsee angrily glared at us. "I've been keeping them out of your world you selfish-"

Reisen chambered a bullet, causing Parsee to stop insulting us.

The hashihime recomposed herself, pursing her lips. "Fine. Recently I figured out that danmaku works really well against these things - it really bothers them, but I haven't had contact with anyone from the Ancient City. It's too bad, really. If they knew that the above ground game was effective, they could turn this whole thing around. Instead I'm stuck here." She scoffed, lying back down. "Don't go any further. You're just going to die down there."

I couldn't help but stare into the dark abyss that was the entrance to Hell. Somehow, some way, the whole situation had gotten even worse.

I was right. We're being countered. I wanted Reisen on this because of her demotivators, and they aren't all that effective. Someone took the time to lessen its effect. Yukari felt tired again, and not due to her hypersomnia. So that's it. We now have that static infection that Suou has done.

If Suou had gotten involved, then this got messier. That annoying data entity had been gone for years, but for her influences to show up at this point?

Quickly standing up, Yukari slammed her fist on the table, upset at the situation, and it knocked a black pawn off the chess set. She didn't care for the looks the others were giving her, as she got up and got some tea. She muttered to herself, staring into the cup, trying to come up with a new plan.

A lot of this stems from that stupid barrier that's keeping a lot of us out, and it might also be the cause for the lessening of their powers down there. They had gone down too easily - there had to be something else against them.

Her mind kept going to the obvious choice on what to do, but she kept rejecting it. She's not supposed to get involved. We are years away from that.

But it kept popping into her mind. It was the most obvious solution to the problem she had in front of her.

Setting down her cup, Yukari picked up the black pawn, ready to put it back in its place, but paused.

...I see. So not the way I thought, but... the two of them...

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she looked over the chess set. "Of course. I didn't make the first move, so I'm black." She set the pawn at the side of the board. Shaking her head, Yukari was beginning to accept it. You took out a 'pawn' before the game even begun. There should be a way to get it back, however.

Yukari stood there, the familiar swirl of thoughts, machinations, and plans beginning to engage in her mind. Even though Ran was a genius in her own right, she never could figure out how Yukari thought. The manipulative youkai began placing her hand on various pieces, thinking what they could do.

I'm playing blind, but they can see my pieces... Yukari stared at the board for a while, a smile forming on her face. ...So if you're going to cheat... there should be no foul if...

Again, years away from that other youkai, the troublesome one. Though...

It came to her.

Ah. I see. Yukari suppressed a grin, despite how badly she wanted to let it out. Shouldn't be too hard. Give the right bait, and any animal will do what you want them to. The best part was that piece be on white's blind side. Calmly taking a sip of her tea, Yukari stared at white, wondering who was who, and how many pieces white even had. She couldn't properly plan unless she knew the players and how they worked. It was one of the reasons why the oni left topside - they couldn't stand Yukari's methodical ways. Only Suika could stand her. I need confirmation though. I need to know for sure. All these Roman and Greek texts only point to one person who could be behind this, but not necessarily ours. If it is you, we're going to lose people. There has to be a way to... She stared at another black pawn, pursing her lips. Now I have to figure out what my future self is doing. I seem to be getting it right, so that's good. It had to be this way. If she openly colluded with her future self, then those watching would take precautions. Now then... let's see what I'm doing here... After several moments, she moved the pawn forward two spaces. She let a small nervous grin appear on her face. I don't even know what white is doing right now. I'm playing blind. I need to know.

She needed someone who could read the seals.

Someone who could read any language.

Once I find out who I'm really dealing with, I know I can come up with a plan to beat them.

Even if you are... the Greek me.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"We're almost there, aren't we? And here is the underground entrance."

Kyouko Tachibana stopped, turning to Fujiwara. He had not aged since the last time they met, which was over a year ago. Then all of a sudden he contacted her days before, wanting to stop the upcoming incident that was happening in Gensokyo. Fujiwara had his usual snarky face on, filled with impatience. Kyouko was impatient herself, having to spend more time with him.

They had been spirit walking from the college campus via Sasaki's closed space. It was quicker than normal travel, sure, but it was still a long ways to go from the college campus to the Gensokyo area. Fujiwara had directed her where to take him, and they were getting ready to go underground after finding a hidden cave in the National Park.

"Is this even going to work? We aren't even in Gensokyo."

Fujiwara eyed the cave, before putting his finger to his temple. "Hmm. Looks like this is the way."

"But don't we have to be in Gensokyo?"

He shook his head, dropping his hand. "No, not really. The underground realm is supposed to be its own closed space, not actually a part of Gensokyo. We should be able to spirit walk in that realm too, so we can get to the threat faster than those idiots doing things the hard way."

"I'd rather we help them."

Fujiwara sneered at her. "Just so you could be closer to Koizumi, right?"

"Don't make me slap you."

He gave a fake smile. "I jest. But I can't allow them to throw their lives away. They're playing a stupid game when the fate of all future timelines are at stake."

"Danmaku can down a god."

He raised a gun he had in his pocket, grinning. "So can this. Got some sympathizers from the Sky Canopy Domain to fix this just right, as well as people from my timeline, making it able to take down the threat."

"But we can help them. We don't have to be sneaking about like this."

He frowned. "You agreed to do this. Otherwise why come all this way with me?" He sneered at her again. "Not having second thoughts, are we?"

Kyouko sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "Maybe. I don't know."

He chuckled. "Look. It's simple - all I have to do is shoot the big bad, the data bullet will do its thing, and we'll save the timelines." Fujiwara clenched his teeth, getting angrier. "Those failures want to play their stupid little knockout games when a serious issue is happening." He clenched his free hand, and it began to shake with rage. "It's irresponsible! That stupid Yakumo won't take the measures to prevent what's going to happen! So it falls on me to set the timelines right again!"

"You tried that-"

"No!" Fujiwara quickly turned to her, seething. "No, it's not the same! You don't get it! You don't understand what stems from today!"

Kyouko was taken aback by his reaction. She was afraid he was going to hurt her, but he calmed down after a moment.

Fujiwara shook his head again. "No. No, they're risking the timelines themselves." He put away the gun, and took some deep breaths. "Look. Kyouko, you have to understand - this day screws up everything."

"...How?"

"Sometimes?" He stepped closer to her, looking tired. "Sometimes, from this day forward, but not all the time, when you time travel past today's date, you end up in a dead world. A world where an apocalypse happened. It's been driving every time traveler crazy. Most of the time, you have to just try again, and you'll get the correct timeline. But not always. Some are too scared to even travel any more. The only 'safe haven' we now have are in between yesterday, and the day Haruhi got her powers."

Kyouko scratched her head, confused. "But... how? Does time even work that way?"

He shook his head. "It's not supposed to, but something happens today. Something causes time to be malleable. The timelines aren't guaranteed anymore; not the timeline fork I'm from, or where Asahina is from." He patted where his gun was. "Now do you get why I'm doing this? Unlike those Brigade losers, I'm willing to do what is necessary. I'm willing to make the hard decisions. Even if I have to kill what is behind this, and I will. What you are doing is helping that, okay?" His face softened as he turned to the side. "It's just... I don't know. I don't understand what's happening. Nobody is. Nobody has seen anything like this before, and it's scaring a lot of people. It's just heartbreaking that besides me, the only time traveler taking action is Asahina, but she's content with just giving Yakumo care packages."

They stood in silence for a while, Fujiwara occupied with his thoughts, while Kyouko tried to understand the notion of what she was told - that the timelines weren't guaranteed anymore. So that means there is a chance that Koizumi and his group fails. Which means... he might die. Which also means that the world may really end today. She looked to Fujiwara, half-filled with acceptance, and half-filled with disgust in him being right. I don't care for his attitude, but he may have the right idea on how to handle this. We might not be able to rely on the Gensokyo group and the Brigade for this.

Kyouko inwardly sighed, understanding that while Fujiwara was a bastard, he was always looking to protect and preserve his timeline.

"Fine. Let's go." I hope that gun can deal with whatever is doing this.

The fairy was elated. She had sprinted out of the club room, sliding on the tiled floor, and began running down the hall to where they had the designated area for the portals. She stopped to make sure she had her torch ready to go, and that her jester hat was still good.

Master had just given the go ahead to take them down. But if she couldn't get the job done, they'd be allowed to continue.

The fairy had told her master how much of a threat they've become, and after all this time, she finally got the order to actually do something about it.

This is it, Kyon. For some reason, you always survive until the end. You shouldn't be able to survive. You're just a normal, weak, stupid human. You don't deserve to make it to the end against us. It had always bothered the fairy; rubbed her the wrong way. How dare he go against them, how dare he survive. Sure, he died in the end, but still. He had the audacity to not die like the rest of them. The last time they had to cancel out a world, killing them all at the moon viewing party, for some reason, he had avoided getting killed by pure luck - he was instead at the side of the mansion, avoiding everything before getting killed in the lobby.

But not this time. You're getting taken down first.

It's time for you to die, Kyon!

I'm gonna kill you!

"Sixty Year Cycle Great Barrier Incident"

=Note: The only incident on file to have occurred several times before in identical fashion, and which is likely to continue reoccurring in the future.=

-In spring of 2005, Gensokyo experienced what appeared to be a record growth of all kinds of flowers, including those not in season. Not only was practically every square meter of soil occupied by the invasive blooms, their sudden appearance had an emboldening effect on Gensokyo's fairies, the number of which had also increased, causing them to run amok.

Several of Gensokyo's residents, unaware that this had happened before – most of those who had been present for the previous incident had forgotten it altogether – investigated the incident with the intention of resolving it. After fighting with one another many times, they all came to realize that each of these flowers housed a deceased spirit. Upon this revelation, they followed the flow of souls to Muenzuka – a haunted ground where the Great Hakurei Barrier is weak, and the presence of the Netherworld can be felt.

In truth, the flowers had been created by the spirits, who longed for a living body once again. These spirits had slipped into Gensokyo through the Great Hakurei Barrier, which was undergoing a process of temporary weakening, just as it had sixty and one hundred twenty years prior, and made connection to the Sanzu River at Muenzuka. These spirits had long been idle on the Shigan, as Komachi Onozuka, a shinigami ferry-woman of the Sanzu River, had been slow to ferry them across in the wake of a sudden increase in their number. The incident resolvers fought Onozuka in hopes of spurring her to correct the situation, but were interrupted by the arrival of Eiki Shiki; the Supreme Judge of Paradise; the Yama who presides over Gensokyo.

The Yama saw the sloth of her subordinate, but also the vices of the group that had come to fight her, and so took the opportunity to lecture them all at once through battle. By manifesting their sins and forcing them to reflect, the Yama defeated all of them except the Hakurei shrine maiden, who emerged victorious after an extended duel. The Yama then took it upon herself to direct the ferrying of souls across the river, a process which took several weeks.

By the time the Great Hakurei Barrier had waxed again, the incident was over. Although the involvement of the group from Gensokyo ended up being unnecessary, the Hakurei shrine maiden still took credit for defeating the Yama, and the incident was considered officially resolved.

=STATUS: RESOLVED=

-File catalogued by Emiri Kimidori and Yuki Nagato.

-end file-

Now who is that little fairy?

Just who is she?

Read and review. Lady Yukari demands it.